Jingle belles
by ElegantArrow 64
Summary: Prequel to Passing Shadows Sora and company go to Mickeys place for Christmas this year and plan to make the best of their time. But with Sora still in healing will it make the process faster or will painful memories reserface? FINISHED
1. Welcome

Sora: Hi guys its me.

Riku:…..really Sora I thought you were Tom Hanks ;rolls eyes:

Sora: ;glares: he's cool though so I'll take that as a compliment.

Riku; then…how bout Michael Jackson?

Sora: DON'T EVEN GO THEIR!1!

Riku: snickers:

Sora: ANYWAY!! We must wake up Fire because she needs to write the Christmas fic she completely forgot about and she has only so many days. :Creeps up in to her room:

Riku: Fallows:

Me: ZZZZZZZZZZ…………..ZZZZZ

Sora: HEY FIRE GET UP NOW!!!!!!

Me: WWHHAAAH!1 ;falls out of bed: ow…what do you want!?  
Sora: ya gotta write your Christmas fic.

Me:…but I already wrote a Halloween Fic its someone else's turn.

Sora: I don't think so. Besides, your is going to be a one-shot and a sort of prequel to Passing Shadows. The Christmas in the year in between.

Me:………I am? When did you decide this?

Sora: its in your damn notebook now get typing ;throws her in chair:

Me:….;sighs: Fine…..I'm kind of winging this at the moment so bare with me.

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Disney Castle

The morning that day was one that had never been seen throughout the whole year. Snow hung heavily on the ground sparkling on the window's and in the courtyard down below. Servants who were busy preparing the rooms for their guests sang and danced to holiday music as the castle became all hustled and bustled to get ready for Christmas. The king himself stood smiling near the large front doors as he watched His friend Donald shout at his nephews as they tried to put the star on top of the humungous tree which even the ladder they stood upon didn't even manage to reach all the way.

"I'm telling you Uncle Donald we can do it on our own!" Huey called down to the frantic duck.

"You three are going to kill your self's now get down here before you break anything!"

"But we want it to look pretty for Sora!" Louie whined.

Donald's face turned into a frown as all three of his siblings looked at him with giant watery eyes and he gave in. " Fine! One less trinity ladder I have to create today…"

Huey, Dewey, and Louie gave each other high fives and tried once again to reach the top of the tree .

Mickey chuckled to himself and once again cast a glance out the door to see if anyone had arrived.

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'Hmm…they should be here soon. Everyone else has arrived accept those three."

A tap on his shoulder caused him to turn around and he found himself face to face with what appeared to be a whole army of brooms.

"We're Done your majesty!!!" Called a small squeaky voice. The king blinked and cast his gaze to the handle of the first broom and could see a small mouse standing on the top looking very proud with himself. "We finished all 13 floors. Its squeaky clean sir!"

Mickey nodded. " Alrighty then Jaq. You can take a break and the rest of you…..just have fun." he added thinking that he had no where at the moment to keep an army of enchanted brooms.

Jaq nodded and bowed before clapping his hands. 'ATTENION!!!" he squeaked. "FORWARD MARCH!!!" and with that all the brooms marched to the back halls.

( O/C: Alrighty, Jaq is the mouse with the red hat in Cinderella. This is just a little cute idea I had for him. Theirs a lot more of these Disney people in this.)

FALALALALALALALLALALALA

An hour had passed by and still no sign of Sora, Riku, and Kairi. It had been Mickey's idea to have Christmas at his place sense Destiny island wasn't exactly a snow filled place. Kairi had jumped at the idea from the phone call she had gotten from Donald and nearly talked his ear off. They had also called Cloud, Leon, Aerith, and Yuffie who had already arrived but had so far kept quiet. Which seemed to be a bad sign.

"…Its unusual for them to be quiet for so long you don't think their planning anything?" Mickey asked Lumiere as he put him on the dining room table which was HUGE do to so many people who would be attending.

"Sir, from what you have told me, I would expect no worries from you. After all, the only one who has seemed to cause any trouble in your formal travels is the keybearer and that ninja girl." He spoke cheerfully as Mickey lit both candles which made up for his hands.

The king nodded in agreement. "Yeah, your right. I'll worry when Sora gets here."

As if on Queue, their was a sudden knock on the large front doors from out in the main parlor where all the excitement was going on and cogsworth came stumbling in bowing to the king. "Your guests HAVE arrived."

Lumiere rolled his eyes from the table and the king shot him a look.

"…Well you must admit your majesty he is laying it on a bit thick."

"Oh hush."

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Mickey quickly reached the front doors and peaked outside to see Riku and Kairi standing their talking to each other excitedly. A smile spread across his face and he opened the doors.

Everyone gathered around as a shocked Riku and Kairi walked in and Kairi's eyes lit up as they saw the giant tree and the decorations. Riku just smiled as he always did and crossed his arms over his chest. He was wearing baggy blue jeans and a blue shirt which seemed almost wore out and a black hoodie jacket which seemed to fit his style and the cold weather. Kairi was dressed in a long jean skirt with a girl size blue hoody and black earmuffs. She smiled at the king and bowed. "Nice to see you again."

Mickey turned red and nodded. "Nice to see you too Kairi but you don't have to bow."

"Yeah Kairi." Riku scolded her. He immediately looked at the king and raised his hand. 'Hey. Nice to see ya."

Mickey smirked and everyone laughed as Kairi rolled her eyes.

"So…where's Sora?" Donald asked.

Riku rolled his eyes. " He's coming. Let me check." he dropped his luggage and looked at the door. "Hey Sora move it or lose it!!!"

"I'm coming hold it!!"

Donald and Mickey looked at each other. The voice didn't sound much like Sora's. Kairi caught their confused looks and smiled. "Sora, changed a lot over the year." She told them. "In a lot of ways."

Donald's eyes widened but the king just simply smirked as Sora slowly came into view from up the walkway.

Their old friend HAD changed and from the looks of it, in a way a teen was expected too. His hair was spikier and slightly lighter. His facial features had completely lost its Child-ness but now resided with handsome pale skin. The usual aqua eyes shone out like stars and his body had toned out to be slightly more muscular and taller then before. Baggy jeans adorned his body along with a black shirt and the usual crown necklace. A black jacket with a dragon on the back covered him for warmth and he had two piercing at the top of his right ear.

Riku smirked at the look on Donald's face and put his hand at the top of his left ear to show the petrified duck he had the same.

" Feh...teenagers." Donald mumbled.

When Sora was standing next to Riku, the servants shut the doors and Mickey smiled at Sora who nodded. "Hey."

Everyone laughed again and Sora raised an eyebrow missing the joke completely but Kairi grabbed his hand. 'I'll tell you later."

"Well, now that everyone's here, I guess we can start having some fun." Mickey announced. Everyone cheered and Kairi's eyes sparkled. Even Riku seemed slightly amused about what they might be able to do in a huge castle for a week. Sora simply frowned and looked around as if searching for something.

'Ahem! If you three will listen." Came a voice from the floor. All three teens looked down to see Cogsworth come strolling toward them with a look of importance written all across his face. Kairi took a small step back and Riku raised an eyebrow. It was a talking clock for god sake.

"Your rooms are ready for you." he spoke bowing. "If you would care to fallow the fairy over their she will guide you. But if you care to stick around to enjoy yourselves for a bit, you may."

Sora suddenly felt a tug on his ear and turned to find himself face to face with his old friend Tinker belle. She stuck out her tongue earning a smile from Sora. "Hey Tink! long time no see."

The pix waved and sat on top of his head proving that she had been having the time of her life. The brunette laughed and Riku and Kari glanced at each other smirking. Their whole point of bringing him here was to have fun and to rid himself of the memories which have haunted him over the last year. This Christmas was going to be perfect. No evil villains, no torture, just fun.

Suddenly their came a loud crash from the kitchen and everyone turned to see a flash of black and red come zooming out of the door.

"GET BACK HERE YOU CRAZY NINJA!!"

The blur stopped in mid tracks which turned out to be Yuffie. Clad in a black skirt and a red and black top with a giant cookie in her mouth. Her eyes fell on Sora and hearts popped over her head. 'SORA!!!!!!"

The brunettes eyes widened and before he could make a move, he had been pounced upon by his sugar hyper friend.

'Sora!! YOU'VE BECOME SO CUTE OVER THE YEAR!!! I MISSED YOU SSSOOOO MUCH!!!"  
The keybearer couldn't help but grin and turned slightly red as everyone around him snickered. Their had to be over 100 people and things bustling around the castle's main room. And each one seemed to know who they all were.

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'Mickey must like to talk about us.' Sora thought. Yuffie got off of him and hugged Riku who stood completely still in the process. Then Yuffie came over and high fived Kairi and they both began to talk and then head off toward the giant Christmas tree.

'I'm guessing all the others are here too, right?" Sora asked Mickey who seemed to be watching him closely.

'Yup. They've been here. Haven't seen them all day though. Except Aerith and Yuffie."

Sora nodded and suddenly herd a small yelp. He turned his gaze down to Riku who had grabbed Cogsworth and was playing with the hands of the clock on his face.

"Is this thing on over powered batteries or something?" Riku asked as he turned the poor clock around. "mine don't do this at home."

"I say, get your hands off me now!!!"

Riku dropped him and stood up looking around slightly wide eyed as he noticed the army of brooms come hopping in from the hallways. Music had started to play and Sora looked to see that the instruments were playing by themselves and a small smile spread across both the teens faces. They were beginning to like this place.

Mickey nodded and beckoned 4 of the brooms to come over and they stood in front of him. "Take the luggage up to rooms 113, 114, and 115 please." they nodded and grabbed Sora, Riku, and Kairi's bags with both hands and dragged it up toward the giant stair case.

Riku and Sora stood their with their mouths hanging open and Mickey couldn't help but smirk to himself. "You two enjoy yourself. If ya need me, just look around the main room here." And with that he strolled off. Tink jumped off of Sora's head and waved fallowing in the kings wake. Both boys looked at each other and blinked. 'So, What you want to do now?"

Riku thought for a moment and suddenly his eyes fell on the giant staircase. "…I got an idea."

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Me: FIRST HCAPTER DONE!!! HAVE A CANDY CANE AND ENJOY!! REVIEW PLEASE!!! :goes to get dressed and ready cause she's still in her pajamas:


	2. Rooms, and the courtyard

Me: NEXT CHAPTER!!! Gotta keep it going.

Sora: you have swim practice though.

Me: SHUT IT!! IT IS 8:40 IN THE MORNING AND I MUST SWIM AT 9!! NOT MY KIND OF THING TO DO IN THE MORNIN!!!

Riku; wow. Sucks to be you.

Me:…….:chucks him out window to screaming fan girls:

Riku: AAH!!!!

Me: On with the story. Grrr.. NOW READ!!

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Kairi and Yuffie had ended up going upstairs to their rooms. Yuffie's was right across from Kairi's, and Tinker Belle had to guide them after Yuffie got both of them lost somewhere on the 5th floor.

"Thanks Tink." Yuffie said embarrassed. The Pixie shook her head in a 'I-expected-this-to-happen' way, and unlocked Kairi's bedroom door before zooming back downstairs.

"Well this is it!" Yuffie stated happily clicking on the lights. A giant four poster bed stood against the far wall. Their was also a couch, and a tea table against the other. With this was a hallway leading to a bathroom and 3 other doors which Kairi assumed were closets. But what caught her attention the most was the two big glass doors which led out to a balcony that overlooked the whole front yard of the castle and the Town that it shadowed over. Millions of Christmas lights, cars, and shops could be seen as the people hustled and bustled around. A smile spread across Kairi's face and Yuffie joined her as they ran out onto the cold balcony, completely forgetting about any jackets and looked around.

"No Fair!! Your views better then mine. I get the courtyard view."

Kairi blinked. " Hey, that sounds cool. Lets go see."

Quickly they ran out of Kairi's room and into Yuffie's which had almost the same set up except smaller. One door opened to her balcony and they stepped out onto it gazing down at the people below.

The courtyard was actually bigger then Kairi had expected. People bustled around from one end to the other and it looks as if you could fit a plane inside. The trees were beginning to be lit as the sun sunk slowly on the horizon casting a glow on the snow covered ground.

Yuffie and Kairi smiled at each other knowing they were going to have a lot of fun when Yuffie sighed slightly. "So, how's Sora?"

"Oh,...um. He's doing well." She mumbled. The question had caught her off guard.

Yuffie could sense the drop in her voice and shrugged looking back down at the people. " I know he had it ruff last Christmas. We ALL did. And the king said it would take awhile for him to heal."

"Yeah and then theirs that whole Saving the world thing we cant tell him…" Kairi walked back in and sat at the edge of the ninjas bed. "…He's been down a lot and keeps to himself. I just hope this opens him up a bit more."

'Well he seemed happy when he was down stairs." Yuffie shot in.

"I know. I haven't seen him smile like that in awhile. But I'm sure Riku's keeping him occupied."

As soon as the words had left her mouth they both stared at each other as millions of possibilities flew through their mind. Sora and Riku were teenage boys. Mischief would be their new middle name in a place this big.

"I…think we should head back down to the courtyard." Kairi stated.

Yuffie nodded and a smirk spread across her face. 'Want to take an easier way?"

"…Such as?"

"Watch." Yuffie walked over to a double wooden door next to her bed and pushed it open. Millions of clothes rested inside which Kairi could tell all belonged to Yuffie. The ninja quickly pushed them aside and beckoned Kairi over. The brunette peaked inside and could make out a rusted steal door that made up the whole side wall of the closet.

"It leads straight to the Court yard." Yuffie explained. "Theirs an area in the corner where there are a bunch of trees so its kept hidden. This whole castle is LOADED with secret passage ways!"

Kairi frowned and watched as Yuffie pushed open the door which creaked on its hinges. A dusty staircase rested inside leading all the way down into darkness.

"……I REALLY need to get some candles to put in here." Yuffie mumbled as she grabbed a flashlight from the corner of her closet and walked in. "It would look spooky."

"Its Christmas not Halloween Yuffie." Kairi told her shakily as she fallowed closely from behind.

Yuffie shrugged. 'I tried to light the torches, but they always blew out when I open the door down below. I think its cause they're too high up."

Kairi nodded and looked behind her frowning. She was a bit more interested to find out what secrets her room held, but as Yuffie and her came to a dead end it settled in the back of her mind.

"..Now what?"

Yuffie smirked and cracked her knuckles. "You push.'" And with that she rammed into the side of the wall and it flew upon.

Kairi cheered and Yuffie smirked before losing her balance and falling out into the cold snow. "AHH!!!"

Kairi:…;anime sweat drop:

the cold air flew throughout the whole entire passage way chilling Kairi threw her hoody. She carefully stepped out of the passageway and the sound of Christmas carols and chatter met her ears. Carefully she closed the door which blended in perfectly with the wall. Yuffie hoisted herself up covered in snow and fallowed Kairi out into the hustle and bustle of the Court yard.

…Bad idea.

Suddenly a giant snow ball came flying out of no where missing Kairi and hitting Yuffie square in the face. The ninja fell back into the snow again and Kairi ducked as more soon fallowed.

"HEY!! STOP!!"

"Oops. Sorry Miss Kairi."

The brunette looked up to Find Huey, Dewey, and Louie, smiling at her from behind a solid wall of snow. They each had a snow ball in their hand which they quickly hid behind their backs innocently. But suddenly another snow ball came zooming out no nowhere from the other end hitting Kairi square in the head.

"EEP!!"

She fell back into the snow next to Yuffie and herd Donald's Nephews shouting angrily.

"MAX CUT IT OUT!!!"

Kairi looked in the distance and could see the head of a teenage boy (well…dog) that looked exactly like a younger less goofier version of Goofy crouched behind a wall of snow a bit taller then the others wall. "Whoops. Sorry ladies."

"Its okay…I think." she added as she gazed at Yuffie who had swirls in her eyes.

( Everyone say "K.O")

As soon as Kairi had gotten Yuffie to her feet, they headed inside and found themselves in the main parlor where they had first entered. It was a bit less crowded this time around and mostly everyone was seated at a table or in a chair. Candles from the tree sparkled all around casting a warm glow through-out the room. Penguins were walking in and out of what Yuffie knew (From earlier experience,) as the kitchen delivering candy, drinks, and food to its customers.

"..Want to take a seat? We might see Sora and Riku soon."

Kairi shrugged. 'Sure." They took a seat three table away from the Christmas tree and watched the people walking by. Twice they saw at least a dozen brooms coming walking through to the staircase carrying luggage fallowed by people and creatures of all sorts. They had been so busy people watching, that they barely noticed the penguin standing next them tapping his flipper impatiently.

"Oops Sorry." Kairi apologized. The penguin nodded and held up his pen and pad showing he was ready to take their order.

"um…wow I guess I'll have a cherry soda." Kairi said blankly. The penguin scribbled it down and looked at Yuffie who was grinning evilly. "I'll have a coke and a large chocolate chip cookie. Tell them the orders from the master ninja. They'll know who your talking about."

The penguin stared at her for a moment as if she was crazy, before nodding and heading to the kitchen. Kairi raised an eyebrow at the ninja who just smirked in reply. Something was definitely wrong with this girl.

The brunette sighed and looked up at the giant staircase. Small lights were lighting up the steps in the darkness which the candle light could not reach. It was for the moment deserted do to the fact no one was returning to their rooms, but that was all broken as their was suddenly a loud shout from above.

"CCCCCHHHHHHHARRRRGGGGEEE!!!"

'What the-"

Everyone looked up as two large blurs suddenly came sliding down the banister rail of the giant staircase, skidding across the main floor as they landed.

Kairi and Yuffie watched as several penguins were knocked over like bowling pins and the two blurs became transparent as Sora and Riku.

Everyone in the hall stared at them as they slowly stood up and gave each other high five. Sora was grinning from ear to ear which Kairi had not seen in along time. Riku caught her gazed and winked as both girls rolled their eyes and their waiter brought them their drinks casting Sora and Riku non-trusting looks.

As soon as the boys seen the drinks they strolled over and grabbed Kairis who was just about to take a sip. 'HEY!!!"

"Is it alcoholic?" Riku asked surveying the red liquid.

"No, its cherry soda."

Riku shrugged and took a sip passing it to Sora. 'Not bad!"

"HEY!!" She wrenched the drink from Sora's hands who glared at her non-trustingly. She threw the straw at Riku keeping the cherry at the end and drank what was left of it.

Yuffie laughed and brought her drink to her lips but stopped as she noticed her cookie wasn't their. "HEY!!" She turned her drink around absentmindedly and found a note stuck to the back that read:

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The great Ninja may not have a cookie thanks to the one she stupidly stole earlier. Thank you very much.

Merry Christmas,

Yoshi

Yuffie's eyebrows arched together as she read, and jumped as she realized all three of her friends were reading from behind her.

"…So who's Yoshi?"

"Oh, you'll find out." Yuffie hissed angrily. She straitened her black hair out glaring at the kitchen door, before she stood up and strolled over to it. All three watched her with wide eyes and eyed her untouched drink.

"…Don't even think about it."

"I can do what I want." Sora mumbled under his breath. Kairi glared at him as he took Yuffie's seat and avoided her gaze. Even after disobeying her, She noticed he didn't touch the drink.

"….Stubborn."

Suddenly out of no where their came a loud crash as one of the penguin waiters tripped over what seemed to be a moving Tea cup. Sora's eyes widened and Kairi took the moment to seize Yuffie's drink and put it next to hers. Healing, or no healing she wasn't going to have him being rude like that.

During the time all the penguins had been trying unsuccessfully to grab the teacup as it zoomed here and their around the floor. Sora suddenly stood up as it began to come his way, and pounced on it.

"Whah!! Sora?"

The brunette held his hand steadily on the tea cup keeping it from moving as he tried to decide whether he should flip it over or not.

"NOT ANOTHER MOVE!!!" Came an echoing voice.

Sora flinched and slowly looked up to find himself gazing at a teenage girl about his age with brown eyes and long red hair. She wore a black skirt and a kimono like Christmas top with long sleeves and had a look on her face seeming like she was about to kill Sora……or was it the tea cup?

"Y-yes ma'am?" he asked innocently.

"Give me that tea cup."

"Um.."

"Sora, just give me the cup."

The brunettes eyes widened at the fact she knew his name and quickly picked the tea cup up from off the ground and handed it to her. She turned it over and over in her hand observing every side before she stuck her hand in and pulled out a small petrified mouse by the tail.

"….Gus WHY are you hiding in a tea cup again?"

The mouse quivered and shook as he look around frantically. "L-Lucifer." he managed to squeak.

The girl sighed and glanced toward the kitchen doors. Her eyes narrowed and she drew in a deep breath before shouting. "YOSHI WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT LEAVING THAT CAT IN AT NIGHT!?"

But as soon as the words had left her mouth, another shout came echoing from inside the kitchen and Yuffie came running out with two cookies in her hands and one in her mouth with a boy about Riku's age fallowing at her heals. He wore blue jeans and a green shirt which was covered by a white apron and had black spiky hair which hung over his green eyes as he chased the ninja all the way to the stair well which she ran up faster then a bullet.

'GET BACK HERE YOU STUPID NINJA!!' he shouted angrily at her. But as he realized he was defeated he slowly turned around coming face to face with the girl that had taken the tea cup.

"…Hello Wish." he grumbled under his breath.

"Yoshi, I told you to take that cat out and I wish, you would stop letting that girl get on your nerves so much."

"..She likes taking my treats." he told her angrily.

" Well, set something up to get back at her or something, I don't care. We have to keep this place running!"

"..Yeah whatever." he said as he strolled past her. Wish simply glared and grabbed the tea cup and Gus heading in the other direction.

Sora, Riku, and Kairi simply looked at each other and then at the two as the Candles flickered on the tree.

"So…….." Kairi pointed at Yuffie's drink. " Anyone?"

'Already done.' Sora announced as he drank the whole thing in one gulp.

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Me: For your knowledge, the people in this story are my friends. Yoshi is my friend and so is Wish as you know as "KairiQueen." believe me she doesn't act bossy like that. Next chapter has more of Sora this time around. GAH!! I have to finish this.

Also, I need some ideas in what other Disney characters to put in here. I'm running out of ideas. So could you help me?

Oh, and THANKS FOR THE EGGNOG!! Also PLEASE try and get people to read this. I want a lot of reviews

So….REVIEW!!


	3. Random happenings

Me; Alrighty next.

Sora: your listening to Japanese music and its Christmas? Why?

Me: Cause I can.

Sora: Feh…;goes back to playing gameboy:

Me:…what you playing?

Sora: Chain of memories. Sense you couldn't beat Axel I'll try.

Me: HEY!!

Sora: Damn, I wish they could of given me my new outfit in here. I like the black one.

Me: all in due time young sky walker.

Sora: o.o…..What!?

Me; uh..I mean-

Sora: DON'T! start with the Darth Vader thing.

Me: :mumbles: but in passing shadows its a lot like the same.

Sora: Did you JUST realize that, or were you planning it!?

Me: I just realized it but kingdom Hearts and Star Wars don't have much in common. Just wait till Christmas you'll see.

Sora:…;not convinced:

Me: um, anyway enough talk and READ!!

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Sora and company decided they had had enough for the day and wanted to return up to bed. Riku, Kairi, and Yuffie were engaged in a conversation as they made their way to the staircase. All three had gone through at least 6 cherry sodas and Riku ended up paying the bill( "I only had like..2!! You girls better pay me back!!") Sora on the other hand didn't have a thing and walked along in silence behind the others. Ever sense he arrived he had been having a good time…but now he wasn't so sure if he was telling himself the complete truth.

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'…I feel happy.' He thought to himself as he walked up the giant staircase. _'I like seeing all my friends again. But….……hmm.' _He slowly turned around when he realized his friend weren't fallowing him and found that all three were completely astounded with this freaky guy who was pouring tea from his hat, down his coat sleeve and into a tea cup. The brunette raised an eyebrow and turned back around heading up into the darkness of the stairs. Despite the cheeriness that had welcomed him in the main hall, the hallways making the many floors above, were dark and dreary lit by nothing but candles.

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'….I kind of like it.' Sora thought to himself as he made his way further up to the 6th floor. The clink of his necklace as he walked echoed against the walls vibrating in his ears. Everytime he passed a candle that was tucked safely in a small grove in the wall, he would shut his eyes to keep it from blinding him. It was always the same. If their was ever even the smallest light in the darkness, it would hurt him.

As he began to realize what he had just thought, the brunette stopped in his tracks and sighed letting the darkness of the hallway wash over him. He hated himself. Hated every single part of him and what visions his mind created. Why hadn't everything gone back to normal yet? Was he just supposed to suffer and wait!?

Frustrated, Sora kicked his foot against the wall causing the remaining candle to flicker and die out. At once, coldness and darkness enveloped every inch of the keybearer and he sunk to his knees in shock. Everything was spinning. Memories and images flashed through his mind. Darkness enveloped with pain, Coldness fallowed by death.

He was on the verge of blacking out, when suddenly a hand grabbed him by his shoulders and he felt himself being shaken by a pair of ruff hands.

'Sora? Sora!?"

"….Wh…wha?"

"Snap out of it kid. Jeez."

Light came flooding in from the wall in front of him making Sora squint his eyes in pain. The outline of a familiar face became clear to his vision and he suddenly felt himself being hoisted up to his feet.

"Leon?"

"In the flesh. Now come in here before someone runs over you."

The light became brighter as he was led into what he predicted was Leon's room and felt himself being seated down on a plushie surface. As if by a miracle, the over head lights suddenly dimmed allowing his eyes to adjust and he found himself face to face with Cloud and Leon.

"Hey." Cloud held up his hand in greeting smirking and Sora nodded avoiding Leon's gaze. The questions were going to come sooner or later.

"Well then Sora let me take a look at you." The gunner asked. The question caught the brunette off guard a bit, and he slowly stood up watching Leon's face as he scanned him up and down. His two friends had changed also.

Leon looked older. Older then he should look but not old enough to compare to Cid ( not even close thank god.) he had on his usual black leather pants and a blue shirt and black jacket similar to Sora's outfit. Cloud on the other hand, had on baggy ripped jeans and a gray short sleeve shirt which seemed a bit too normal for him.

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'Heh…probably trying to avoid the fan girls.' he thought smirking.

"Well kid, I must say you've grown up." Leon told him. "Your probably a ladies man like Cloud over their. Took awhile to shake the maids off him when he arrived."

"Can it." Cloud muttered glaring at him menacingly. Sora laughed and sat back down avoiding Leon's gaze which had turned to worry. Anything to avoid being questioned.

"So where have you guys been?" Sora asked. "I haven't seen any of you downstairs."

Cloud muttered something under his breath which sounded a lot like "Damn maids…" causing Leon to chuckle slightly. "We attract to much attention. Besides that kid Yoshi keeps bugging us to get rid of Yuffie but we kind of don't care."

"..Why?"

"Rather him then us." he said with a playful grin. Sora grinned back and slowly stood up glancing toward the door.

" I gotta get back to my room before the others worry." he told them.

Cloud nodded and opened up the door while Leon fallowed Sora out.

"Which rooms yours kid?"

'Um.." Sora scanned each door. "I think the one right across from here."

Leon nodded. "Alright. I'll see you in the morning. And no sneaking off anywhere. This place isn't all its cracked up to be at night."

Unfortunately this caught Sora's attention and he turned to face his friend. "How do you know?"

"..Personally experience. Now go to sleep." And with that, he shut the door on him.

Sora sighed and turned back around opening his room door with a click. If he were in his usual condition he would of wondered straight out down the hallway to explore. But exhaustion had taken over him and without even thinking he plopped down on his bed and closed his eyes. He knew he would regret sleeping in his clothes in the morning but he only managed to take off his shoes before he fell asleep on the plushie surface. The shine of the moon and the falling snow danced across his pale face from the balcony window making him look like an angel. But the darkness within would keep fighting. Until that angels wings turned black.

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Kairi and the others had returned to their rooms in due time. They assumed Sora had returned to his room already causing less worry as Yuffie ran straight into her room and shut and locked the door as soon as she seen it. Kairi fallowed suit, do to the fact the tea the Mad Hatter had given Riku was spiked with some weird sort of sugar and he was practically singing his lungs out down the hallway.

"GO TO BED RIKU!!!" Kairi screamed as she plugged her ears.

"OH HOLY NIGHT!! THE STARS ARE BRIGHTLY SSHHIINNNINNGG!!!!"

Kairi double locked her door and let out a sigh of frustration. Sora was one thing but Riku high on sugar?…not safe.

The brunette began searching for he pajamas when she found all of her clothes had been hung up neatly in her closet. She smiled and took out a pair of purple silk pajamas and slid her skirt and top off. Personally she didn't like staying in a room by herself when their actually could be secret passage ways. But it was classy.

As she pulled on her pants and began buttoning up her shirt, the sound of a door being swung open met her ears an she looked out her balcony window to find Riku on his own balcony next to hers singing at the top of his lungs once again.

"DDEEECCCK!! THE HALL WITH BAALLSS OF HOLLY!!! FALALALAALALA-"

"RIKU WILL YOU SHUT UP!!!!"

The teen stopped and looked at her as if she had asked him to jump of the balcony which by now seemed like a good idea to her.

"Your no fun Kairi."

"By now I don't care, just GO TO BED!!"

But as soon as the words had left her mouth he started up again louder and more off key then before. Kairi plugged her ears with Flames of rage in her eyes. This was really starting to tick her off.

"TIISS THE SEASON TO BBBEEEE JOLLY!!! FALALALAALAL-"

Suddenly off in the distance of the hallway their came a scream of rage and the sound of heavy footsteps. Kairi quickly walked to her door and unlocked the top so she could peak out. The door of Yuffie's room came flying open and their the ninja stood. A look of pure rage and annoyance written across her face. In her hand she held a giant mallet about the size of Kairi's head and she strolled steadily and casually over to Riku's door.

"Crap…"

Kairi quickly shut and relocked her own before running back to her window and staring at her psycho singing friend.

"RIKU!!!WATCH OUT!!"

" DAWN WE NOW OUR GGAAAAYYY APPARREL!!! FALALAL!!FALALALALAAAAAAAA-"

WWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMM!!!!!

The mallet hit dead center on top of Riku's head and the boy slumped over like a rag doll. Without even a glance toward Kairi, Yuffie dragged Riku into the darkness of his guest room and shut and locked the balcony doors.

All became quiet as the brunette herd Riku's door open and shut fallowed by the trudge of Yuffie's feet. She held her breath the whole time as if willing not to be found by the crazed ninja. Two knocks at her door made her jump.

"EEP!"  
Slowly Kairi made her way back to her door, unlocked it, and peaked out to find herself face to face with a pair of blood-shot pissed off eyes attached to 5 ½ feet of female ninja.

"Y-yes Yuffie?"

"May a barrow an extra pillow?" She asked in a plain yet threatening tone. Kairi nodded and quickly grabbed one from her bed and handed it to her. "H-here."

Yuffie just nodded before turning back around and trudging zombie like into her room.

Kairi shut and relocked the door for the 4th time before snuggling up in her bed and clicking off the lights. She had just had a rare encounter that perhaps even Leon never even experienced. Yuffie had a dangerous side. Zombie like at the most.

"Never piss of a tired ninja." Kairi muttered laying down on her pillow. "Lesson learned."

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Me: heheheheheh. I was going to leave this with just ending with Sora, but it was too short so I cooked this up. Oh, and I probably wont finish this by Christmas but it will be done by New years. I will try but I am about 76 sure. PLEASE REVIEW!!! IT SNOWED HERE FINALLY!! YAY!!


	4. Snow ball fight

Me: MWHAAHHAHAAHHAHAH!!!!

Sora:…she's losing it.

Me: I ALREADY LOST IT But who's complaining? I get lots of presents

Sora; yup

Me: I get a gameboy advanced SP and star ocean..

Riku:…god not that game 

Me: YES that game!

Sora:…………:puts on Santa Claus hat and walks into other room:

Me; well, I'm having difficulty finishing this on time. It so happens, I got the 24 hour flu on Christmas eve IN church. Then I was still recovering on Christmas and a day after. And the rest of the time me and my parents were busy playing with our Christmas toys. My dad got a robot, I got a Nintendo DS and SP, my mom got a mini arcade TV hookup, and everyone else I know got chain of memories.

Riku: hehehhe. Fresh meat.

Me: With link cable: Exactly. ;hears crash from other room:

Me:…SORA NO PLAYING WITH THE EYE TOY!!

Sora: BUT IM DOING MATRXI MOVES!!

Me: YOUR NOT NEO YOU IDIOT!! People please read and have a happy new year

KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK  
Sora awoke that morning to find himself staring at a large chandelier. For a moment he wondered if his parents had finally got some REAL money and upgraded his room light but with a quick look at the balcony to his left he remembered where he was.

"I forgot...I'm not in Kansas anymore." he yawned. Quickly he jumped of the plushie surface of the bed and scanned himself over in the mirror….it seemed kind of tacky to walk out wearing the same clothes in a place like this.

"..well what else do I got?" he began searching through his closet until he found a black shirt similar to the one he was wearing now except it looked neater and had silver flames on the bottom. The brunette smirked and took off his shirt almost tripping on his shoes on the floor. He had the slight suspicious he was late despite the facts their were no clocks in the room.

"That's odd….wonder where Riku is."

Quickly he pulled his new shirt over his head and grabbed a blue and black headband from his shelf. Maybe he could have a little fun today.

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Sora ran out of his room and over to Riku's door. He half expected the girls to already be awake, but Riku was another story.

When he got no answer he checked to see that the door was locked. To his surprise it wasn't which striked him as peculiar. Did Riku sneak out or something?

As he walked in ,the sight met before him was both humorous and gruesome. Their lay Riku sprawled across his bed, with a giant bump on his head and duck tape over his mouth. He seemed to be almost dead except for the fact he was breathing.

The memory of the King Tut experience slowly creped into his mind and he let out a laugh. Right now wasn't exactly the time to do it though.

__

'I….think I'll just leave him here.' he thought as he walked out. No use explaining the situation he didn't even witnessed.

Outside, the hallway was quiet and the sound of chatter and belles could be herd from several floors below. He smirked to himself and began whistling down the hallway. It had been awhile sense he had done that. But in a place this big it seemed more free spirited then his home.

Clearly to anyone that seemed impossible. But when your stuck somewhere for along time old memories tend to curse sacred places. Memories that didn't even take place their.

__

'Don't think about that…' Sora told himself. _'You're here to have fun don't spoil it like you always do.'_

Suddenly he stopped in mid tracks as he herd a loud hissing sound above him.

"Hello."

Sora jumped with a cry and backed several feet away as a long green snake uncoiled itself from the pipes above smiling it him.

Sora blinked. "um…hi?"

"you're the young keybearer if I'm not mistaken hmm?"

Sora nodded slowly and glanced toward the stairwell several feet away. He just wanted to get downstairs.

"I'm Kaa." the snake announced zooming in closer toward Sora's face. 'I've herd a lot about you from downstairs. All your friends are down their."

(O/s: Alrighty this guys from jungle book. I haven't seen this movie as much as I should but he's perfect for this part.)

The brunette gulped nervously and nodded. 'Then ah…I should be getting down to them."

Kaa laughed. " oh no, they can wait for you _trust me._" His eyes zoomed in on Sora's and the keybearer found he couldn't look away.

"um…"

"I think I'm going to have some fun with you for the time being. Lets see how this works out shall we?" The snakes eyes seemed to spark and Sora's turned that freaky green and blue color like the people do in the movie.

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Riku came down stairs an hour later with a look of pure hatred in his eyes and a giant tape mark over his mouth. The hall at this time was less crowded and everyone was mostly out in the court yard or in town. Snow was falling heavily yet lightly outside putting on a perfect Christmas card look. Not even that could faze Riku now. He scanned the room for any sign of Yuffie and the other and finally found them out in the courtyard engaged in a snowball fight with the staff of the castle.

" IT STARTS ON MY COUNT!!!" Came Yuffie's loud voice. On her team was Kairi, Wish, Goofy, Huey, Dewey, Louie and several other maids who were working in the castle named Inu.

On the other team was Donald, Yoshi, Mickey, 3 penguins, A maid named Dchii, Leon, and Cloud.

"HOLD IT!!" Yoshi shouted silencing the ninja. "We need to wait for Sora and Fire."

'And Riku." Kairi added in.

'I'm right here."

Everyone turned and Yuffie let out a scream as she seen the look of malice within the teens eyes as he walked into the courtyard. he took his place next to Yoshi and smirked. 'I'm on their team and good morning Yuffie." he said packing a snowball in his hand. The ninja gulped and sunk below the solid barrier of snow that guarded their side of the courtyard. she new she was dead. Dead and buried.

'I think Fire went to go find others to join." Mickey piped up smirking at the look on Riku's face. "Lets hope she finds Sora."

Wish was already making snow ball behind the barrier glaring at Yoshi. Kairi took a small step back at the look on her face and nodded. 'you um…going for revenge."

" Absolutely."

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Fire by now had asked everyone in the main hall if they wanted to be in the snow ball fight. Many refused but she had a few that had ended up wanting to join. Max had joined at the last minute after eating breakfast and now her one goal was to find Sora.

Fire herself, was nothing more then a maid and a Christmas decorator in the castle. She loved everything about Christmas and thought the snow ball fight was a nice, fun, wintery touch.

"now where's Sora?" She had never actually met him, but she herd enough to know his name. She had his room number but decided to check the other places first.

"…This could take awhile." She thought as she looked around. Quickly she checked the game room but found it deserted and looked just about everywhere else in due time. She even checked in his room but found nothing.

"um excuse me." She asked Lumiere as he hopped down the hallway. "have you seen Sora anywhere?"

'Why of Course madam. just seen him head toward the showers. Seemed a little zoned out as a matter of fact."

"oh!! Thank you." She bowed and headed back down the stairs smiling to herself. Sora was probably in the shower. No harm with starting without him. They could probably have another go later tonight with the snowball fight.

When she reached the courtyard they all looked at her questioningly.

"Sora's in the shower so I guess we should start without him." She announced.

Mickey nodded and Sora sniggered as the thought of dropping a bucket of snow on him while in the shower popped into his head but he would have to try that later.

"ON MY COUNT!!!" Yuffie screamed. "3!!!2!!!!!1!!!!…...DIE!!!!" She flung her snow ball at Riku which hit hard and Fire had to duck behind the barrier on Kairi's team avoid being hit.

"HEY!!!"

Quickly she gathered up a snow ball and flung it at Donald. He ducked and Mickey and him met eye to eye smirking. They had an idea.

Riku on the other head was like a rampaging snow man. He was completely covered in snow but was throwing and packing snow balls so fast his arms were a blur. And all were directed at Yuffie.

'ARRG!! I DON'T CARE IF WEAPONS ARENT ALOUD!!" She shouted as the solid wall of snow began to crack as they were hit with the teens snow bullets. "THEY NEVER SAID THEYW ERE ANYWAY!!" And with that she grabbed Goofy's shield from his back and held it up laughing manically as Riku's snow balls were repelled.

"WHAT THE- HEY!!!"

Soon everyone had taken out their weapons and in half an hour it had turned into an all out war. Mickey and Donald Were using their staff and Keyblade to freeze snow balls with the blizzard spell and send them sailing across at the other. Wish had stolen Riku's wing blade and was currently hitting snow balls with it at Yoshi like a baseball. Riku on the other hand was knocked out senseless after Yuffie had ended up chucking the shield at his head.

Within another hour everyone lay strewn across the courtyard. their weapons at their sides and millions of snow balls still left. Wish and Yoshi were glaring at each other from the ground in a staring contest and Yuffie seemed about Ready to pass out.

'Alright everyone." came lumieres voice from inside. 'Time for some hot cocoa."

Cogsworth who was standing beside him raised an eyebrow. "I figured they would fight to the death. Oh well. Such as life. Wherever that keybearer is."

'Funny I haven't seen him. Surely he is out of the wash room by now."

After a few minutes everyone from outside staggered into the main hall. Fire brushed the snow out of her hair and suddenly she felt a tap on her shoulder.

'huh?"

'um…Fire?" Wish smiled at her weakly. 'I don't mean to bring this up at this time but…look at the top of the tree?"

Fire slowly looked up and to her horror she found that the angel which had taken her 3 hours to put up was gone from the top. 'uh-oh." Wish and Yoshi looked at each other and quickly made a break for the kitchen. 'EVERYONE PLUG YOUR EARS!!!"

But assuming everyone was almost dead and wet with snow they didn't pay attention unfortunately.

The maid let out a shriek and her eyes flamed red. 'WHO STOLE MY ANGEL!? IT TOOK ME FOREVER TO PUT THAT GOD DAMN THING UP!!!"

Mickey took a small step back and everyone looked at her with wide eyes. She was….loud.

"Um...Fire we'll help you look for it.' Kairi suggested.

'YOU BETTER!!!" She screamed. 'GO!! MOVE!!! MOVE!!!"

Everyone scattered grumbling slightly at the sudden order. By now they just wanted to rest.

Yoshi and wish peaked out from behind the door of the kitchen and sighed. Who had the nerves to take the star?

Mickey's eyes narrowed as he looked at the top of the tree thinking to himself. "….I think I got an idea who stole it."

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Me: so….TIRED!!

Sora: she's been shopping all day.

Me; my fingers wont even move properly. Ill finish this sometime ;sighs: please review.

Oh and, the guy who played Lumiere in beauty and the best died from cancer the other day. And he played my favorite character too!!! and sorry if there are mistakes in this im t….tired…to…..check…:passes out from exhaustion:


	5. Angel?

Me:walks in with Santa hat on, sunglasses, a skirt, and tank top: MERRY SUMMER!

Sora: (squirts her with loaded water gun) DROP THE CHRISTMAS ACT!

Riku: (In pool) Yeah! Christmas is over!

Me: (throws snow cones at them) SHOVE OFF! I want to update this to drive everyone insane! And all those poor people that still have snow where they live!

Wish: Christmas. Guess I should turn off this CD. (turns off Evanescence).

Sora: (shrugs) It's not us. (eats thrown snow cone) Yummy.

Riku: (has head phones in)

Me: Anyway, I'm updating this out of pure oddness. I plugged in my " Polar Express" C-D today and it just reminded me I still had to finish this. Plus my writers block is gone.

Wish: Fire, you're writing a Christmas fic in July... YOU'RE MY HERO!

Riku: (mumbles) And she says she wont update Passing Shadows just yet…Moron.

Me: ANYWAY! Please enjoy! (throws piranhas in pool with Riku.)

Riku: Wha- OW! OW! GET 'EM OFF! OUCH!

Me: Enjoy!

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One flew over the pear tree

The day drove on endlessly and the snow continued to fall across the grounds of Disney Castle. It coated the windows in driving blankets, causing the torches on the walls to serve as the only light and source of heat within the whole building. But still everyone searched endlessly for the stolen angel under Fire's watchful eye.  
"Come on you guys! You can do better then that!" she screeched as another set of people came back empty handed. " If you find it, you get to rest. NOW GET MOVING!"  
"Um…Fire," Mickey spoke up from the shadows looking almost as scared as everyone else. "Aren't you being a LITTLE too obsessive?"  
The maids eye twitched. "OVER OBSESSIVE? Your majesty I live to serve this castle and make it as perfect as it can be within my power. That angel looks down upon its guests like a god from the heavens. I WANT IT BACK NOW!"  
The poor mouse's ears twitched back against his head in fear and he gulped nervously. Riku sniggered from behind him, rubbing the bandaged spot on his forehead where Yuffie had whacked him with the shield. This was one hard, cross maid.  
As everyone began to file off in different directions Kairi grabbed Riku by the ear, pulling the poor boy to the shadows with a loud yelp.  
" OW! Kairi what are you doing?" he cried heatedly.  
The red head glanced around wearily to check if anyone was listening before whispering to her deranged friend, "Sora hasn't been spotted anywhere. Surely he's out of the shower by now, right?"  
Riku blinked, knitting his eyebrows together in thought. Clearly he had forgotten about his friend. "You've got a point. I haven't seen Sora around either."  
"Exactly. That's the key," came a voice from below. Both teens turned their gaze down to the floor where Mickey stood watching them both thoughtfully. " Something's up and I think Sora's behind it."  
Riku raised one silver eyebrow, then turned to Kairi searching her face for another alternative to the matter. "Why would Sora be behind it?"  
"Because," Mickey glanced over his shoulder wearily, making sure no one was around to hear. Silently he turned back to the two. "We have some…uninvited guests you may say."  
"Such as…?" Kairi could tell she didn't like where this was going.  
"Goes by the name of Kaa the snake," Mickey explained. " He's been stirring up trouble lately and by now he must of heard of Sora's and your arrival. That's the only explanation I can come up with."  
"What's he have to do with Sora?" Riku piped up, tapping his foot impatiently.  
"Well…he has mind control powers, you could say."  
The two teens stared at each other for a sec before letting out a long, miserable groan as the truth sunk in. "Jeez, why'd it have to be mind control?" Riku muttered.  
"I'd go search the top floor," Mickey suggested. "No ones been up there yet."  
Riku nodded, wondering why Sora always seemed to get himself into these kind of situations. I mean, mind control? And why make him steal a stupid Christmas ornament?  
"I'll go get Sora, you stay here Kairi," he told her seriously.  
The red head blinked. "Why? There's nothing down here except Fire and her screaming."  
As if on cue, a loud shriek sang through the air making the two teens hair stand on end. Fire came flying past them, eye flashing dangerously and a large frying pan raised above her head as she chased down Yoshi who looked like he had just opened up a very bad Christmas gift.  
"GET BACK IN THAT DAMN KITCHEN YOU MORON!"  
"JEEZ! I was just trying to help you guys look!"  
"I SAID GET IN THERE!" she screamed, swinging the pan down with such force Yoshi had to slide head first through the kitchen doors to avoid the impact.  
Wish, who had just ran full speed down the stairwell to stop her insane friend, wrenched the frying pan from her hand and pulled her over to a empty chair. "Fire, you need to chill."  
The brunette pouted. "I want my angel…"  
"You'll get your angel," Mickey told her calmly. "We have a suspicion of who has it."  
Both girls blinked at the king questionably. "Who?"  
"Riku's going to take care of it," Kairi spoke up quickly. She didn't want Sora to be brutally murdered by two Castle maids. The only one who could murder him was her. All four of them looked directly at Riku, making the poor teen step back into a stray chair. Why he had volunteered, he didn't remember. But there was no backing out of it now that he had three deadly girls, and one King, staring him down.  
"Fine, I'm on it," he muttered, brushing his hair out of his eyes and strolling toward and up the stairwell. He could feel there eyes burning into his back, making him quicken his pace and nearly trip and fall in the process.  
"Sora, I'm going to kill you when I find you," he hissed through clenched teeth. This was NOT his day.

FALALALALALALALALA

When Riku had disappeared atop the stairwell all three girls sighed and stood in silence.  
"Well then..." Wish spoke up, clearing her throat. "I'll just, um...return this to the kitchen." She smirked, waving the frying pan in the air. "I'm sure Yoshi wants it back."  
"Wish…" Mickey spoke up, voice rising to a threatening tone. She smiled innocently, watching as his ears rose up high above his head like they always did when he was angry. Slowly she lowered the frying pan onto the table and took a seat next to Fire who seemed lost in her own thoughts. Eyes narrowing, Wish turned to her own thoughts which included secretly canceling the order of the mouse King's favorite cheese.  
"I hope Riku finds him," Kairi whispered to herself. "I don't want this Christmas ruined for him again…"  
"Riku will find him," Mickey spoke, making her jump. She had forgotten he was there. " Finding him isn't the hard part."  
"What's the hard part?" Fire asked.  
" Finding Kaa."

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"Why…?" Riku panted as he reached the last and final step of the staircase and collapsing onto the top floor. "Why did it have to be the top floor?" He wiped the sweat out of his eyes which were burning from the increase of heat from his sprint up the steps.  
"Now to find Sora."  
Slowly he hopped to his feet peering into the darkness of the open hallway. Candle light served as the only form of light as it did the whole castle. Yet is seemed eerier up here for some reason.  
"No wonder no one wanted to look up here," he mumbled under his breath. He had a habit of talking to himself these days. Either that, or there was mostly no one around to here him.  
With a deep breath he strolled down the deserted hall, shoes clapping against the tile floor in a rhythmic beat. Every door he came across was either locked, or marked with a sign "Under Repair." No one seemed to be around.  
"Sora!" he called getting irritated. "Sora if you have that damn angel, get out here and come with me to give it back!"  
"Riku?"  
The poor teen let out a yelp as he felt something freezing cold grab him by the arm. Ready to strike, he turned to face his intruder when he found himself face to face with a pale, black eyed Sora.  
"Jeez! Don't scare me like that!" he snapped, wrenching his arm away and rubbing frantically at the spot where Sora's hand had grabbed him. Damn, why was he so cold?  
Sora just stood there, staring at him blankly as if he were a stranger. His eyes locked on Riku's, sending shivers down the boy's spine at their emptiness. He had gazed into eyes like that before not so long ago. Eyes of a lost and broken angel, infested with thoughts and lies no human would be able to bare without shattering, soul and all. Eyes of a stranger dug into the body of a friend.  
"What did you say about an angel, Riku?" he asked emotionless, eyes never leaving his friends.  
Riku opened his mouth to reply but found his voice had left him. Sweat beaded up on his forehead in panic as he struggled to free his numbing mind from his memories. "Th-the angel…that…was stolen," he stuttered.  
Sora glanced down, freeing Riku from his nightmare as he pulled a small white satin angel from his pocket and turned it over in his hand carefully. Painted orb-like blue eyes were etched across its porcelain face complete with a heavenly smile which was starting to wear off from age. Its wings spread out from its back in an upward fashion, sparkling in what light was cast off from the nearby candle.  
"Why do you want this?" Sora asked, emotionless, turning it over in his hand.  
"'Cause it's not yours, and Fire's having a spaze attack over it," Riku snapped. He brought his hand to the angels wing, but Sora pulled it away before his friend could get a good grasp on it.  
The teen gritted his teeth, getting annoyed. Hypnotized or not, he wasn't going to give his friend any mercy.  
"Sora, give me the damn angel."  
"…No," he whispered, looking at the ground blankly. Riku would of snapped at this kind of reply, if it weren't for the layer of sadness almost hidden within Sora's tone of voice. The same sadness he had wanted to wish away from the brunette all year.  
"Why wont you give it to me?" he asked quietly, keeping his eyes locked on his friend in case he chose to run.  
Sora stayed silent, taking a step back into the shadows as a gust of wind blew down the hall, washing the fire from the candles. Darkness swept across the brunette, shielding him from Riku's gaze.  
"I… don't know," he whispered.  
The silver haired teen clenched his fist, pushing the sadness from his heart. He was sick of this depressing, silent act playing before his eyes. They had brought Sora here to have fun! And no stupid hypnotism would ruin it.  
Without warning Riku leaped at Sora through the darkness, tackling him to the ground and fighting desperately to wrench the angel from his grasp and hold him still.  
"RIKU, GET OFF!"  
"I DON'T THINK SO!"  
"AHH! LET ME GO, THAT HURTS!"  
"STOP COMPLAINING, IT'S FOR YOUR OWN GOOD!"  
"I SAID GET OFF!"  
Out of breath, and hair sticking to his sweat covered face, Riku managed to swipe the angel from Sora's slackened grip and swing the teenager over his shoulder, holding his feet together to avoid being kicked.  
"Riku, let GO!" Sora growled. His eyes flashed a dangerous shade of purple which Riku thankfully couldn't see do to the position he was carrying him. With a smirk he headed down the hallway, looking the angel over in his free hand and ignoring Sora's useless attempts to break free. "Not on your life, or mine," he told him, kicking his head softly with the back of his foot.  
Sora let out a small whimper of annoyance but shut up for the moment. Riku smiled in triumph. He had gotten the angel back AND Sora! He was saved!  
Desperate to express his happiness he took a deep breath and began singing the one and only song which could fit such an occasion.  
"On the first day of Christmas, I found just for me, Sora and an angel for the tree." (A/N: Stupid I know, but bare with me.)

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During the time Riku had been away, the main hall of the castle had turned into utter chaos. Everyone had given up there search for the angel after they heard Riku was on the case and chose instead to sit around and argue about it.  
"So Sora's hypnotized?" Yuffie asked an annoyed Kairi with a cookie clasped in her hand and Yoshi hovering behind her with flames blazing in his eyes. Clearly she had stolen another cookie, but either the ninja was doing a good job ignoring him or didn't even realize he was there.  
Kairi nodded, getting tired of being asked the same question over and over again. The worst part was that all of the castle staff that didn't know her personally referred to her as 'Princess.'  
"This Kaa guys got a real screw lose form the sound of it," Max piped up from beside Yoshi. He removed his snow cap from his head left from the previous snow ball fight and rung the water from its material onto the floor.  
Yoshi shot him a look of annoyance. "I have to mop that up, you know?"  
The dog shrugged. "I know. That's why I did it."  
Suddenly a loud bang came from the kitchen and Mickey, Goofy, and Donald came strolling out dressed in there normal attire (A/n: Their original outfits). Mickey's face was set in a grim sort of manner while Donald looked as if he wanted to do nothing more then snapping something in half. Goofy didn't look to happy either until his eyes fell on his son and a smile spread across his face. "Hullo Max."  
"Hey Dad," he waved, hiding the hat behind his back and nearly slipping on the puddle of water in front of him. Yoshi smirked to himself, earning a sharp kick in the leg from Yuffie.  
"OW!"  
"Well, we found Kaa," Mickey announced, causing everyone to freeze and stare.  
"Leon and Cloud are bringing him down," Donald grumbled. "Then we can get some answers out of him."  
A burst of female voices rushed through the air at the mention of Cloud and Leon's names. Yuffie rolled her eyes, glancing over at Kairi. Clearly they were both thinking the same thing.  
'Give me a break.'  
Cloud and Leon were like brothers to them and nothing more. Seeing them as some sort of sexy male star was beyond them.  
Now Sora and Riku on the other hand…  
"Where's Riku?" Kairi asked, almost to herself. "He's been gone for awhile."  
Yuffie shrugged and took another bite out of her cookie. "Probably trying to pin Sora down. Hypnotized people tend to run."  
Kairi's eyes went wide in horror. They could be murdering each other up there! Or Sora could be murdering Riku, but either way it couldn't end good.  
Before she could hop out of her seat and up the stairs, a loud shout echoed from the stairwell causing everyone's heads to turn.  
"WE GOT HIM!" Cloud shouted, holding a petrified looking green snake by the neck with Leon following behind him with his Gunblade in hand. Commotion erupted within the room and Kairi and Yuffie rushed up to the two with Mickey following behind.  
"Found him trying to eavesdrop on our conversation," Cloud muttered, tightening his grip on the snakes neck.  
"Through our ventilation," Leon hissed.  
"What were you talking about?" Mickey asked, tapping his foot on the ground impatiently.  
"Sora," they both replied, glaring at Kaa menacingly.  
The snake gulped, eyes widening with fear as they all stared him down. "I…I was j-just curious," he squeaked.  
"What did you do to Sora?" Kairi screeched, causing everyone to jump back in fright. Her eyes blazed with an unknown rage which even Yuffie found she couldn't add up too.  
The snake looked around helplessly. "I was…just h-having a little bit of fun, princess."  
"DON'T CALL ME PRINCESS!"  
"S-sorry…"  
"Explain what you did or we shove you up the garden hose and leave you there to freeze," Yuffie spoke up, standing behind Kairi with her arms crossed over her chest. Kaa shuddered, realizing that he was out numbered a billion to one. Plus explaining seemed a lot less painful then being shoved up a garden hose.  
"All I did was put a little spell on him," he whimpered. "No harm done."  
"What kind of Spell?" Mickey snapped.  
"A spell…that makes a persons darkest memories resurface. I-its hypnotism, yes, b-but he did all that stuff on his own free will."  
"Then why would he steal my angel?" Fire hissed, staring him down.  
"...I'm guessing 'cause it was a sign of purity, miss. I don't know anything else."  
Everyone stood in silence taking in what the snake had just said. Mickey stared sadly at the floor, remembering all that had happened to Sora. Why did this have to all happen now? And most of all, where was Riku?  
"So let me guess," Yuffie spoke up, eyes glinting with anger. "You heard all that stuff about Sora's dark past and how we wanted him to come here to feel better and have a good time. So you thought it would be 'entertaining' if you brought those memories back up into his mind, turned him into a hypnotized, depressed, teenager and see what he would do from there right?"  
There was a mute moment of silence before the snake gave a little shrug. "P-possibly."  
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Yuffie shrieked, making a quick lunge for the snake. Cloud jumped back in surprise, dropping Kaa to the floor who made a run for it down the nearest hallway with the ninja right on his tail.  
"YOU ARE SO GOING TO BE STUFFED UP THAT GARDEN HOSE!" she screamed. Silence shot through the crowd at Yuffie's sudden out burst which could only be described by one word, which was muttered by a very scared looking Cloud.  
"…Wow."  
"Well…his fate's settled." Mickey mumbled, watching the snake and ninja disappear round the far end of the hall. "Let's get everything back together now."  
"But we still don't have my angel or Sora and Riku!" Fire shrieked.  
"ENOUGH SHREIKING!" Kairi yelled. "They'll come sooner or lat-"  
"BEHOLD!"  
Kairi and Fire blinked and turned around to face the stairwell curiously. Mickey and the others followed until the whole crowd was, once again, staring in silence.  
Atop the highest step leading to the first floor Riku stood, eyes glowing with triumph with the angel in hand and a very pissed off looking Sora slung over his shoulder. The crowd gasped and Fire and Wish let out a "WOOT!" of happiness.  
HE DID IT!

KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

Me: He did it, he did it, he did it, HOORAY! (starts singing in Spanish like Dora the Explorer)

Me: I don't want to leave it here, but I have to go pick up my friend so she can spend the night.

Sora: More fan girls…

Wish: Right on.

Me: Plus I promise I will have more Christmas stuff in the next chapter. Passing Shadows update coming soon. I have half of the chapter written. PLEASE REVIEW!


	6. Frost

Me: one warning. There's a song required for this. Its:

"**Where are you Christmas?- by Faith Hill**

When you see this mark (TL) that means play it. If you don't have the song, E-mail me and I'll send it.

NOW READ!

The lobby burst into an uproar as all eyes fell on Riku and the glowering Sora slung over his shoulder. His hair was a jumbled mess from him and Riku's recent squabble but his expression and mood hadn't changed due to the curse. Riku failed to notice and held the stolen angel up in triumph. causing a shriek of happiness to emit from Fire's throat and everyone to clap and cheer for his success.

Like ants they began to swarm toward him, several tripping out of there chairs to check on Sora which consisted of Kairi, Wish, Donald, Goofy, and Mickey.

"Riku, what did you DO to him?"

The teen turned toward them and raised an eyebrow, smirking despite himself. "Don't look at me, you know how hard it was to pin him down?" he shouted over the uproar of questions and squabble.

"Just put him down Riku," Donald quacked angrily.

Kairi knew that glint in Riku's eye and knew he was going to have fun teasing them. Every time he beat Sora at something he had to rub it in for a little while before he was satisfied.

"I don't know… he's a little demented. That curse still has a good hold on him, maybe we should tie him down first."

Sora struggled harder against Riku's grip, the darkness in his eyes swirling madly. Donald and Goofy backed away, but Mickey stared him down with a look that seen deeper then anyone could ever see into the brunet's eyes.

For a moment Sora stopped struggling and let his gaze lock with the kings. They stared each other down silently, the noise and chatter of the room becoming mute in there minds. Mickey's eyes bore into Sora, drinking in all the darkness, pain, and hatred emitting from his heart. His memories, his guilt, his sadness… Everything he had locked deep within himself was loose and tearing him apart from the inside and working its way out.

And all because of a dumb snake?

"Riku just put him down!' Kairi screamed kicking the smug teen hard in the shins.

Riku winced and frowned at her. "All right, all right, I've had my fun. But I'm not sure what he'll do." Quickly he kneeled down and loosened his grip on Sora's legs letting the teen slid to the marble floor with a "thump."

It was like the mouse had just freed himself from the evil clutches of the cat. Sora's confused mind had got wind of his temporary freedom and he began to scramble to his feet, but Donald, Goofy, and Mickey pulled him back down with shaking hands.

"Sora! Sora calm down!" Kairi ordered, kneeling before her boyfriend and placing a gentle hand on the side of his face.

Mickey's eyes narrowed in thought, watching as the brunet immediately calmed down at Kairi's touch. His whole body seemed to go limp, and he carefully avoided her gaze; eyes drifting down to the marble floor as they became shrouded in a purple haze.

Suddenly Mickey's mind clicked, and his ears flew up to the top of his head.

"Yoshi, go to the medicine cabinet in the back of the kitchen and look for a small red bottle with no label. It should be in the front."

The boy jumped at being addressed so suddenly and everyone turned to stare at him. Some (like Wish), smirking at his befuddled reaction.

"Y-yes sir," he replied racing off past the others and through the crowd Leon and Cloud were trying to usher away to the other side of the room. Leon glanced back occasionally to see what was going on, but he figured Mickey needed the space and decrease of questions.

Oh, how right he was.

The king glanced at the crowd and then at the angel in Fire's hands. The maid was staring at Sora with pity in her eyes along with everyone else in the group. Each having sympathy for the boys ruined holiday. Everything had gone down hill fast and they didn't know how to fix it. Sora would probably be unhappy even after he would be cured and it would of all been a waste.

But Mickey wouldn't let it.

Yoshi came running up in the background, fighting through the mob of people and almost getting knocked out by Leon as he mistook him for a impatient spectator. A little red bottle was clasped in his hand, no bigger then a milk carton, which he handed to Mickey as soon as he reached the group. The mouse nodded in thanks, and handed the bottle to Kairi who took it questionably.

" Make sure Sora drinks that," he explained. "All of it. He calmed down at your touch, so I trust you with him more than anyone else right now."

Kairi nodded, looking over the bottle with care. Wish and Fire stared at it curiously, before looking at each other with a shrug. They trusted the king more then anyone, perhaps this would work.

Riku tapped his foot impatiently, glancing at the red liquid for a couple of spare seconds before averting his gaze back to his best friend. He was the same as he had been up on the top floor when he found him. A lifeless doll.

Sora was NOT meant to be a lifeless doll! He was a bouncing ball of energy bent on annoying the crap out of him like a best friend should!

Angry tears threatened to break free from his reeling mind. All the pride from his recent retrieval and capture had been put aside for the worry of his friend.

He just hoped the rat knew what he was doing.

"Take him to his room Kairi and stay with him there," Mickey ordered, pointing a gloved hand toward the staircase. Everyone cast glances at each other and watched the red heads expression. A slight blush rose in her cheeks and she wrapped her hand around Sora's slowly and carefully before nodding. The coldness from his fingertips sending shivers up and down her arm.

With little difficulty, she pulled Sora to his feet who understood her motivation and let himself be led toward the staircase. He kept his clouded gaze down toward the ground staying safe within the darkness he had wrapped himself in, yet letting the small amount of consciousness left in him will his feet to move in the right direction.

"I'll...see you guys in the morning," Kairi called back with a small smile.

The others waved, watching them disappear up into the darkness of the stairwell. A heavy silence was left in the circle of friends; each waiting for one of the other to break it. The crowd had also quieted down on account of seeing Sora and Kairi leave.

Now what?

"HEY!"

Relieved on hearing a voice (and a loud one at that) everyone turned toward the open hallway to find Yuffie standing there, frowning but with a hint of triumph still lingering I her eyes. "Why's it so quiet? Did you put up the angel without me?"

Fire blinked. "No."

"Well then lets put it up! Come on!" She raced up to Fire, pulling her by the sleeve toward the tree. "The angst-fest is over people! Lets get this holiday going again for God's sake!"

Everyone muttered in agreement and Yuffie winked at Mickey who winked back; happy that someone had decided to take control of things in the holiday compartment. Mickey had other things to attend too.

"Help Yuffie out, okay guys?" he whispered to an eager looking Donald and Goofy. "I gotta go find Minnie and the others so they can help. We got to have everything swinging tonight, or this week's going to be a flop. Got it?"

"Yessir your majesty!" both sang in chorus before bowing and running off toward the tree where the crowd had gathered. Yuffie was staring at the tree curiously while Fire watched her with growing interest. Wish stood nearby eying Yoshi evilly.

"Well guys…um…" She tilted her head back to try and get a view of the top of the tree, nearly falling over backward in the process. Leon and Cloud snickered from the back of the crowd and the ninja shot them a dirty look. "Well how are we going to get it up there?" And then her eyes widened. "How did Sora get it from up there? Where did you hide the ladder?"

Fire smiled. "It's easy. Watch." She turned toward the tree, standing on her tip-toe and looking questionably through the mass of branches and ornaments. After several minutes, she pulled out a small, yet adorable ornament. It was a simple glass belle, painted a smooth burgundy red. The inside was a bright gold with a tiny clear glass bead hanging in the center. There were several others like this around the tree, but this one in particular had a silver glittered bow at the top and had a magical air to it.

With a flick of her hand, she swung the belle back and fourth causing the bead to collide with the glass walls of the ornament and create a soft, yet sweet twinkling sound to soar through the air.

A flash of light illuminated from the tiny trinket, enveloping it entirely until instead of a Christmas belle, a long gold staff rested in the maids hand. A large clear glass sphere rested at the top with what looked like snow, was zooming and swirling around within its center. Gold wires stuck out from all ends, curling at the end in a short spiral. Small silver and gold belles hung from the middle of these swirls creating a dazzling display of shine and music.

"You just got to levitate it up. And since Sora's a magic user it would have been simple for him. I just learned levitation at the beginning of the season so it was a real pain to try and get it up there." She tossed the angel up in the air and with a flick of her staff, stopped it several feet before it hit the ground. Everyone watched in awe as it soared slowly up toward the top of the great tree. The ornaments seemed to shine brighter in the growing warmth of the candlelight as the heavenly decoration neared the top of the tree.

With a gentle plop, the angel found its place and the crowd cheered in delight. Something Wish and the others were happy to here.

Immediately the band started up in a whirl of "Jingle Bells" and the crowd scattered into a jumble of talk and laughter as they spread out amongst the hall; taking seats at the black, candlelit tables and rushing off to dance on the open dance floor.

Riku teetered on the edge of his feet, not knowing what to do now that both Kairi and Sora had left. Wish smirked despite herself but Fire pushed past her toward the silver haired teen. Riku seen her coming and immediately straightened up.

"Um, I wanted to thank you," she told him smiling. "For getting my angel back."

Riku's ego began to swell but he forced it back down with a gulp. "I-it was nothing."

Wish let out a loud cough from several feet away which sounded something like 'Cliché' but the two chose to ignore it and walked off to find a table to sit and talk.

Wish's mouth dropped open. How dare they leave her! They deserved to be dipped in boiling chocolate then left outside to be fed to the squirrels for that!

As she began to find out how she could get that much amount of chocolate, Yoshi tapped her on the shoulder and she turned with a start.

"What?" she snapped.

Yoshi winced. "Go fetch the other maids, tell Gus to bring the brooms in here for there performance, and go get more penguins to come in here and take orders. We got people ordering cookies by the dozen."

The red heads mind swirled with the orders and suddenly she felt like dipping Yoshi in boiling chocolate with the rest of them.

She opened her mouth to protest, but Yoshi covered it with his hand. "I'll give you three bottles of Mountain Dew. In the glass bottles, free of charge."

Wish's eyes widened. She loved that stuff. Hell, if she had a choice she would eat, drink, and breath it. And the glass bottles were hard to find these days.

"…DEAL!"

"Good. NOW GO! GET! OUT!" Yoshi yelled pushing her toward the hall where she broke off into a run. He laughed inwardly to himself at his success, walking briskly back to the kitchen. But he stopped as he noticed an all to familiar ninja blocking his way.  
"Hello Yoshi!" she called cheerfully.

The boys eyes narrowed.

"Here, let me get the door for you," she offered, holding it open and beckoning him to walk through. The kitchen boy hesitated slightly, but took his chances by sliding baseball style through the opening before it slammed on him. The ninja growled in annoyance and shouted through the keyhole as she heard it lock. "I'll get you Mr. Handsome! And your double chocolate cookies too!" And with that said, she raced off to find Cloud.

But Yoshi wasn't done yet. Not by a long shot. And as he sat behind the locked door twirling his kitchen hat in his hand, he came up with the best, useful, revengeful idea sense the woopie cushion.

"This..." he muttered to himself, "is going to be fun."

Kairi didn't like leaving Riku and the others down there to themselves. Talk would surely spread about Sora, and questions would be flying in every direction.

Questions no one could answer.

She led Sora by the hand through the dimly lit halls, feeling chills race up and down her spine from the sudden decrease in heat on the upper floor. But nothing was colder then her hand which was clasped tightly around Sora's…

…or at least, she thought it was. She couldn't even feel it anymore.

The lake of noise and conversation stung even more numbly in her ears and she began to count the numbers plated in gold on the room doors absent-mindedly, not paying any attention to where she was going. It wasn't until she realized she had passed Sora's room by five doors down that she stopped; cursing herself for her stupidity.

"Why…did we stop?" Sora whispered faintly. Kairi had to blink five times before she could register that he had said anything. The voice was unnaturally shy and lacked the usual tone of teenage happiness and energy that it usually carried. Like a candle still burning, but stripped of its scent.

"I went too far," she explained. "Your room's right there." She extended her hand toward the door a few feet behind Sora but he didn't turn to look and went mute again.

Kairi strolled up to it, checking the lock and walking inside. Her hand was still cemented to Sora's in a hold she couldn't break or feel. She scanned the room quickly taking in the un-made bed and scattered articles lying about. There weren't many, which showed that Sora hadn't spent much time in his room as of now.

Sighing, she plopped down on the edge of the bed. Sora followed somewhat dragging way. As if a puppet being held up by strings.

Kairi bit the lower corner of her lip at this. She wanted those strings to be cut and she would use everything in her power to make it happen. She was determined to have this be Sora's best holiday ever.

And that alone would be the best Christmas present of all.

(TL)

But looking at the boy beside her who she had grown to love over the years was becoming more and more difficult to feel comfortable around( this being the most uncomfortable of all). There were things he felt that she could never feel even if she wanted too. Things he had gone through, experienced, and thought that made him stand out amongst the others. Away from her reach.

And now he was out of everyone's reach. During the holiday season in a castle with all his friends who had planned to make his Christmas special.

Oh, why did everything have to go wrong?

Kairi, who had become so caught up in her thoughts didn't realize Sora's eyes had fell upon her. Her features reflected what she was feeling deep inside. No mask to hide behind, no walls, no barriers. Even in Sora's state he realized something was troubling her.

"What's wrong?" he asked faintly.

Instead of acting startled, Kairi simply slapped on a weak smile. "Nothing. Just wondering if I've been naughty this year."

Sora simply stared at her. Eyes revolving with hues of purple and blue like a storm cloud waiting to burst on the horizon. Kairi felt her throat tighten in reply and had the sudden urge to turn her head away but she refused. The least thing she needed to dwell on was guilt.

The brunette winced slightly, that being his first sign of an emotion over some time. His face screwed up in pain and his eyes clenched shut, blocking the storm playing within them.

"What's wrong?" Kairi asked, startled.

"It…hurts."

"What hurts?"

As if made of glass, Sora guided Kairi's froze hand up to the middle of his chest slowly.  
It took a few moments for Kairi to comprehend.

"…Your heart hurts?" she whispered.

Sora nodded, bangs shading over his eyes heavily. The red head stayed silent, concentrating on the material of Sora's shirt where her hand was being held in place by his shakily.

That's when she remembered the red bottle.

"Oh, I have something you need to take Sora," she piped up, fishing the red bottle from her pocket. The brunet recoiled slightly at the sight of it. "It's okay, you just have to drink it."

His purple eyes stared at the bottle wearily and to Kairi, he looked like a little kid about to be force fed medicine. Only there was more sadness then fear.

She unscrewed the bottle, removing the lid and holding the vile out to him. He took it shakily, bringing the edge to his lips and swallowing it in two small gulps. He scrunched his face up in slight disgust, but Kairi wasn't paying attention anymore. She had focused her gaze on the snow falling steadily and softly outside the window. Watching each flake fall down onto the sill of the window and the Disney grounds below, coating everything in a fresh layer of pure white.  
"It's…snowing."

The red head nodded, smiling slightly despite herself. "There will probably be another foot or two by tomorrow morning. I bet the others will want to have a snow ball fight again."

Laughter rumbled distantly from the crowd several floors below them. It was taking all of Kairi's love for the brunet and her concern to keep her from running down there to the cheeriness and warmth which everything around her was lacking.

Except the snow.

Even with the depression Sora had left her in, the sight of the snow seemed to cause that feeling to dissolve; as if that very snow was falling on the surface of her heart.

"Why do you look so sad?" Sora asked, the color in his eyes swirling to a slight black and blue; the innocence in his voice almost making her smile again.

She turned to him slowly, holding his hand in hers, noticing the frigid iciness of his skin was beginning to dissolve. "I'm not sad..." she told him slowly.

The brunet bit his lower lip in reply and Kairi had to stifle a laugh. "I can't be sad. 'Cause I know, no matter what happens, everything will turn out all right. We just have to have hope…which I've had a lot of lately."

"Hope for what?"

She looked at him directly in the eyes this time. Taking in all his features from his spiky brown hair, silver earring, and pouting lower lip. All her hope revolved around him. Around him returning to normal, forgetting the past, and finally being himself. His old self.

But she couldn't tell him this. But she wouldn't lie either.

"Hope for…" she began, "the darkness of the past to be forgotten and replaced with a new light. One that won't burn out."

Sora didn't reply to this but Kairi could tell his un-clouding mind was floating on the edge of sleep. The medicine was doing its work.

" I have to go." Kairi told him. "I have to go downstairs with the others."

But as she began to get to her feet Sora held tight onto her hand. "Wait!"

She blinked at him. "What?"

"Please stay…I don't want to be alone," he whispered pleadingly.

Kairi felt her heart skip a beat and faced the fact that she wouldn't be going back down with the others this night. If Sora wanted her to stay she would.  
She would…

"All right," she told him, sitting back down. A small smile played on the brunettes lips, showing that his old self was starting to shine back through. But it lasted only for a second as he laid his head carefully on her shoulder and closed his eyes.

The blush in Kairi's face threatened to overwhelm her features and her hand tightened around Sora's as if it had a mind of it's own.

"Strange…" he mumbled, starting to drift off. "When I'm around you… my heart doesn't hurt as much anymore."

The snow continued to silently fall outside the castle casting the world into a wintry wonderland of magic. Below, the guests of the Disney Castle talked, sang, danced, and ate, having the time of their lives. The live band swelled into a chorus of "The Carol of the Bells" and Riku and Wish danced joyously across the floor along with Mickey and Minnie and Daisy and Donald. Several brooms joined in being instructed by Gus from atop a nearby cello, swinging his tail to the rhythm.

Yuffie, Cloud, And Leon walked through the crowd laughing non-stop, arms swung over each other for support. A bottle of green liquid rested in Yuffie's slack hand which was half empty and open. It had been a special gift from Yoshi which Yuffie had graciously shared with her two friends. But that had all been forgotten as the three sang a very off-key chorus to "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" as they staggered out into the court-yard. No one stopped them, glad to be free from there screeching tunes.

Yoshi sat in the kitchen, watching Yuffie from the serving window, laughing in triumph at his success. He celebrated by plopping a spare cookie in his mouth and broke into a waltz with the cleaning mop in the back room, out of site. Unfortunately for him, Fire, Hue, Duey, and Luey were having fun snapping as many zoomed in pictures with Yoshi's own camera as possible a camera could.

And as the stars winked high above the castle, sheltered by the gray snow clouds which filtered the stars ever watching light down onto the world in the form of pure, white snow, Kairi and Sora lay curled up quietly on the bed in Sora's room. The light from the moon which had chosen to stray from its hidden covers in the sky spilling across the covers which they hadn't chosen to cover up in. Sora's arms rested limply around Kairi, hugging her close to his chest as he slept.

The red head was awake, though, but just drifting on the edge of consciousness as the warmth of her loves body lulled her into dream filled state. His last words were the only thing keeping her awake as they buzzed in her head over and over in constant replay:

"When I'm around you, my heart doesn't hurt as much anymore."

Kairi smiled, tears dripping silently from the corner of her eyes as she closed them.  
"…Neither does mine." She whispered.

And as the snow continued to fall, and the clouds covered the moon once again, everyone slowly made there way up to bed (Yuffie, Cloud, and Leon needing to be carried.) And as Riku passed by Sora's bedroom, he peaked his head in for a minute, curious as to why the door was unlocked.

The image which greeted him inside, was more then enough to make his heart swell an inch or two. The party had been fun, despite the fact his two best friends had been up here. But things seemed to be taking a turn in a better direction from the look of the two sleeping teenagers.

"We can escape from the past as long as we stay connected, guys..." he whispered, closing the door with a soft click. "I promise."

KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

Me: I had song lurics in here, but I took them out cause I remembered they weren't aloud. so sorry. I did my best. :sighs: Well, next chapter up tomorrow. Hope you enjoy!

Wish's Note (because I edited this and I want one): I do not, NOT act like this in real life! (points at chapter) I swear! And who the Bloody Hell is Yoshi? ...should I kill him? Oh, and for everyone's information, I prefer Dr. Pepper to Mountain Dew any day. MWA HA HA! Oh, and Merry Christmas, too!


	7. Gifts

Me: sniffs: Okay, I feel really sad now because the theme song for Kingdom hearts 2, is really depressing. Well, the second version is. It's called "passion After The battle" It's like someone died, but is sad yet pretty. Which is likely.

Well, I'll shake the depression and move on. This is a somewhat happy chapter and it will be nothing but happiness till the end. I have one more chapter to post, and then I'm done. Right in time for Christmas and for your enjoyment. This is so much fun to type. Lol.

Plus, KINGDOM HEARTS 2 IS OUT IN JAPAN! LUCKY DUCKS!

NOW READ!

Ch: 7 "Gift?"

The sun had snuck up upon Disney Castle, hidden behind it's veil of puffy snow clouds floating lazily together as if sleeping from their night of snow filled wonder. The clock in the main hall four floors down struck eleven 'o'clock, drifting up into Sora's room and ringing in the sleeping brunet's ears. With a small groan he turned over, clutching at the blanket wrapped around his body shivering. Sunlight spilt across the bed from the glass doors leading out to the snow covered balcony, and across Sora's closed eyelids. He winced, bringing a hand to brush his bangs out of his eyes before opening them. His whole body felt like a wet noodle.

"Nnnn…" he moaned before turning onto his back and staring up at the ceiling. Multi-colored lights danced across the white surface from the icicles melting outside his room on the window-sill. His head ached something fierce.

"What the hell happened to me?" he croaked, breaking into a fit of coughs. His throat felt crusted and dry with a slightly sick taste sticking to his tongue.

"Here, drink this…."

Sora blinked, memories suddenly beginning to sinking into his conscious thoughts. Everything that had happened yesterday was a blur.

"I remember walking out of my room…" he muttered. "And then that sna-"

And then it hit him.

For once, he regretted having a good memory as everything came whirling back at him in order making him fall off the bed with a hiss of annoyance. The pain he had felt, the depression, the hurt, the hopelessness, him stealing the angel, the pain in his friends eyes as they looked at him and the hatred he had felt. And most of all, Kairi's hurt expression as she sat on the edge of his bed last night.

"Just wondering if I've been naughty this year."

Tears slowly began to sting the corners of Sora's eyes, something that he had grown used to when left to himself. Everything was now ruined because of him! Everything would turn out being just like last year.

'Don't think that!' he told himself seriously. 'You can still change things around, just act like your normal self…show them you're not some morally depressed teenager.'

"But Kairi…" his words faltered slightly, reviewing his memories of late last night and reaching the point when he had fallen asleep. His eyes widened in terror. "…stayed with me last night, crap!" He stumbled to his feet and looked at the covers of the bed in horror.

"Oh God, oh God, oh God, PLEASE say I didn't do anything bad! I wasn't myself!" His voice dripping with panic as he looked around for any articles of clothing which would be the painstaking proof of his assumptions. It wasn't until he searched under the bed and noticed that the covers on the mattress had been half made and the pillows set in proper order that nothing had happened. Kairi must of straightened up as much of the bed and the room as she could while he was sleeping.

He gave a sigh of relief. "Well, then, where is she?"

The sound of rattling glass reached his ears, vibrating through the walls of his room from the residence next store. The snow, which was melting steadily outside above his window, gave way and fell out of sight to the courtyard below. A loud yell of surprise came drifting through the glass door leading out to the balcony looking over the courtyard and Sora walked over and stuck his head outside into the chilly mid-morning air to catch drift of the commotion.

Suddenly, none other then Yoshi came storming out onto the balcony of the next room, black hair in a jumbled mess and green eyes seething with fury.

"Stop throwing those damn snow balls up here!" he roared. "If I wanted to play, I would! But since some good-for-nothing maids wont do there jobs, I guess I HAVE TO!"

" Stop your blubbering, Yoshi, and get your ass down here!" a faint voice yelled from below, which sounded like Wish.

A sneer played on the teens lips in reply. "Hell no! I'm enjoying the fact that I'm going to get extra pay while your all down there beating the Hell out of each oth- AUGH!" But his words were cut short as snowballs were shot upon him from all sides, all with the driven force of a hockey puck.

Yoshi scrambled back inside with a groan and Sora had to stifle a laugh. He peered down into the courtyard below and recognized several of the bundled up figures below. Such as Fire, Wish, Donald, Goofy, Huey, Duey, Louie, Pluto, Max, and Riku. But he couldn't recognize Kairi.

Suddenly an idea struck him.

As soon as he heard Yoshi's mumbling outside in the hall he peeled open his door and carefully stepped outside, leaning against the doorframe casually with his trademark grin in place.

"Hey."

The teen stopped dead in his tracks, turning and staring at Sora as if he were a ghost. "Y-you!"

Sora had to use all his self control to keep from rolling his eyes. "Yes me. I'm better now, the nasty medicine did the trick."

'And a certain special someone, but that's nothing he needs to know,' he thought.  
Yoshi's look of shock faded and was replaced by a very grim frown. "Well, all your friends are outside starting another damn snowball fight." He began to turn around. "You can go join them."

"Thanks," Sora took a step forward, "but I've got a better idea."

The teen turned back to face him with a look of puzzlement which he was trying to hide. Sora caught this making him grin all the wider.

"And what might that be?" Yoshi asked.

"Something you can find to your advantage," Sora explained. "And to mine, if I want to make a good comeback. So, you in?"

They stood in silence, the shouts and cries of the raging war below dimming in there ears as the teen considered the offer.

Yoshi crossed his arms slowly over his chest. "All right, lets hear it."

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The fresh snow from the night before had made Donald's nephews wide awake and boiling with anticipation as the sun rose at eight A.M. that morning. Their goal was to gather up as many people as possible that morning and divide them up into teams for an all out snowball war. Riku had been there first pick, unlocking his door with their Uncle Donald's key they had "barrowed" and pounced on the poor teen until he staggered out of bed with a sleepy look of annoyance.

That had been one down.

Their second victim was going to be Sora, until Riku told them to let him sleep for awhile. All three nephews whined sadly, but with one sharp look from Riku they decided it was best to move on to the others.

Not everything went as planned though.

Many of the best players were either too tired, to busy, or, in Yuffie, Leon, and Cloud's case, too drunk and suffering from a hangover to participate.

"This is one battle," Yuffie moaned from underneath her covers, "that I must pass."

"Aww…but Yuffie!"

The figure from underneath the blankets froze, and suddenly a green blur flew from beneath them and darted into the bathroom, shutting the door with a snap.

The three ran out before they could hear any effects of Yuffie's sickness.

In the end, they had gathered up members of the staff who had gotten up early to start cooking breakfast for the guests and cleaning up after the party last night. Fire and Wish had been the first to join, followed by Goofy and Donald who had forced Max to join.

The group was small, but it would do. Wish and Fire seemed to be cooking up a strategy as they were heading out to the courtyard. The teams were as followed:

Team 1: Wish, Fire, Huey, Duey, Louie.

Team 2: Riku, Max, Donald, Goofy.

They were one short, but their uncle's and Goofy's weapons gave them a bigger advantage. So they decided it was fair for the moment.

And now they all stood. Nothing but the sound of clinking pots and pans echoing out from the kitchen back door which was cracked open an inch or two to let in some air. Riku and his team were practically drooling a river as the smell of bacon, eggs, and French toast came traveling into there nostrils.

Wish's team, which was positioned on the far end in front of the back room door to the maids lounge, simply prepared their strategy with the sound of washers and dryers rumbling muffled through the closed doorway.

They glared each other down in steady silence.

Wish licked her lips with a smirk. "On my count!"

Riku and Max stood there ground behind there large barriers built of snow; giant, icy snowballs clasped in there hands.

" One…two…three, GO!"

The impact, this time, wasn't as exciting as it was the first. But that didn't mean both teams weren't serious. Snow balls flew through the air like missiles, many coming from Huey, Duey, and Louie in a type of rhythm only brothers could master. Riku was flinging ammunition with both hands in a sprint relay fashion while Donald, Goofy, and Max flung snow balls of there own whenever Riku stopped to catch his breath.

Wish and Fire sat behind the wall smirking.

Huey turned and frowned at the two. "Hey! What's the big idea?"

Duey turned away from his current shot and glared in annoyance. "You said you would pla-ACK!" he spat as his beak was filled with snow.

Riku laughed loudly from the other side.

"We need more help!" Louie called from atop the snow wall where he was being shot at from all sides.

Fire and Wish looked at each other.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Wish smiled.

Fire nodded, adjusting her scarf around her neck as if it were a tie. "Time for the reinforcements."

The three nephews looked at each other quizzically. "Reinforcements? But we don't have any reinforcements."

"Sure we do!" Wish cried happily. She reached her hand into her jacket and pulled out a small, silver whistle which hung around her neck on thin platinum chain. She put it to her lips and blew, causing a loud shrill to echo across the courtyard; waking up half the population of the castle who were still in bed.

Riku and the others stopped throwing ammo to look over at Wish with puzzled expressions. What was she doing? Calling time out?

Oh, how wrong they were.

For awhile it seemed like nothing had happened, but when a small trail of snow started forming its way over to Wish from the door behind her they knew she had done something.

They all watched in silence as she lowered her hand to the snow covered ground, lifting up a small shivering mouse clad in nothing but a red hat and vest. She placed him down gently on the top of their barrier of snow and took a step back.

"Go ahead Gus, call them out," Fire smirked.

Max raised an eyebrow. "Who's 'them'?"

Turning to Fire and giving her a small thumbs up sign, Gus turned back to the opposite side of the field and drew in a deep breath.

"ON MY COUNT MEN!" he squeaked.

The door to the maids lounge flew open with a slam.

"THREE, TWO, ONE, CCCCHHAARRGGEEE!"

Riku and the others aloud themselves only a small glimpse of the horror that swiftly, and steadily began to emerge from the depths of the doorway on the other end of the court. The millions of wooden hands and straw bristles were enough to send chills down a man's spine.

" I-it's…" Riku's eyes widened in horror. "IT'S AN ARMY OF BROOMS!"

Donald pulled down the disturbed teen as snowballs began whistling like bullets in their direction from all sides. Fire and Wish's laughs of triumph reached there's ears and anger burned deep within there defeated souls. They were completely out numbered.

But Max wasn't about to give up.

"I'm going to take a shot at them," he growled, packing a snowball in his hand.

"Don't do it Max! You're the only son I have!" Goofy cried, pulling him down by his ears. "I don't want to lose my one and only son to a bunch of broomsticks. Shucks, that's just too terrible!"

Max frowned at his father. "I'll be fine Dad, It's just one shot," he assured. Carefully he raised his head above the protection of the barrier and what he saw made his ears stick out in horror.

The whole entire length of the courtyard was gated off by a line of brooms. All packing snowballs into there wooden hands and turning toward Max from all sides.

The dog dropped his snowball. "Um, Merry Christmas?…Heh."

But his plea was useless as millions of snowballs plummeted toward him and his vision was blurred as he fell back onto the snow with snowballs covering his eye sockets giving him a very comical look.

Goofy let out a cry of despair and Donald looked at Riku worriedly and for the first time in awhile, Riku was fresh out of ideas.

They were in a real jam.

And then the kitchen door flew open.

Heads turned, snowballs ceased there flight, and broomsticks froze in there act of war to stare at the figure who had intruded upon there territory.

Yoshi smirked, leaning against the door frame casually. "Nice job Wish, never knew you had such good war tactics."

The red heads eyes flared.

"But it's a little bit one-sided don't you think?" He stared down at Riku and the others, giving a small wink.

Donald and Goofy glanced at each other.

"No reply? Okay, then lets make it even." Removing a black glove from his right hand, he stuck two fingers in his mouth and let out a long, high whistle. Black and white blurs began sliding out into the snow, lining up horizontally across the whole courtyard mirroring the formation of the brooms.

Wish stuttered as she looked open and down wide eyed at Yoshi's troops. "P-penguins?"  
The raven haired teen nodded. " Breakfast doesn't start till 10:30. Thought I'd use them to my advantage for the time being. They seemed up to it, right guys?"

All the penguins nodded in unison, packing snowballs into there flippers and taking aim. Wish, growling from the other side, wrenched herself from Fire's grip and taking her spot in front of the line of brooms with Gus holding on to the top of her hat. Yoshi did the same, staring the girl down with the look of a general crazy for war.

"This is gonna be good," Louie whispered to Huey.

"CCHHHAARRRGGGEEE!"

The air was suddenly filled with balls of snow, colliding with each other and bursting into sprays of white. Brooms fell with a crack to the ground while penguins were slammed against the wall from the impact, struggling dizzily to there feet before falling back down again.

The commotion woke up the remainder of the castle and people were seen peaking out of there windows curiously. Yuffie's face was one of these, an elixir in her left hand and a pair of earmuffs in her other, dangling from her wrist as she organized her clothing. But she quickly forgot about this as the site below met her wide, brown eyes.

Quickly she chugged the elixir, throwing on her earmuffs and winter coat and boots. It was only seconds before the ninja arrived downstairs with a very woozy looking Cloud and Leon behind her.

"Come on guys, lets go!" she cried, packing a snowball in her hand and running into the large mob. They fallowed despite there pounding headaches, feeling the rush of battle coming to them once again. Oh, how they missed that feeling.

Within 10 minutes, 85 percent of the castles staff and guests were out in the courtyard having the time of there lives. The cook and several others stayed inside preparing breakfast that would be highly appreciated after the war was over. But at the moment it looked as if it would never end.

Riku had regained his tactful fighting spirit and was recruiting teams and fallen counterparts from all sides. It wasn't until Yoshi shouted him an order, that he stopped.  
"Go try and sneak up on Wish!" he shouted over the din. "If you can capture her, we've got this game in the bag."

The teen liked the sound of this, and he saluted in acknowledgment. Carefully, and with stealth, he zigzagged throughout the battle field littered with bodies and many still in combat. He could just make out Wish's red hair from out in front of the barrier of snow. She was an easy target from where he was standing and a quick snow ball to the head would send her to the ground. Then he could move in.

Liking the strategy, he packed a ball of snow into his hand snickering under his breath at the thought of nailing the leader of the apposing team with one clear shot. But his hopes were shattered when a cry of "HEADS UP!" rang from all around him.

With a shattering spark of pain Riku felt cold, wet snow collide with his nose, leaking into his eyes and into his mouth where it's bitter taste hung onto his taste buds and numbed his tongue. But what really shocked him was the body that collided with his own from above, as if the person had fallen from the sky. He fell to the ground, trying desperately to throw the mystery person off of him while trying to avoid getting himself soaked to the bone from the wet snow. But the person wouldn't give and within seconds he found himself laying on his stomach with his legs trapped beneath his attackers and his head in a very tight head lock.

"Let go of me!" he choked. "What the fuck's your problem?"

A small laugh met his ears in reply, a laugh he recognized yet hadn't heard in some time.  
His heart leaped.

"Say Uncle!" Sora ordered grinning mischievously from ear to ear.

The teen growled, eyes blazing. "Sora!"

" Not my name, you moron, I said UNCLE!"

By now, those who were still standing across the battlefield had wandered over to see what all the commotion was about. Yoshi was dragging a very sour and beaten looking Wish by the back of her jacket, smiling happily and with pride. If Riku hadn't been turning blue from lack of air, he would of laughed.

Sora pouted. "Pu-lease Riku? If you died I would be lonesome. Even if I did inherit all your nifty weapons and clothing and-"

"All right already, UNCLE!" he gasped. "Now let go."

"Woot!" Sora released his friend and fell back into the snow laughing uncontrollably. Max, Donald, and Goofy watched with mouths wide open with shock at the change in the brunette over the night. Looking around at the crowd, everyone was thinking the same thing they were.

Who had worked this miracle?

It took Riku several minutes to catch his breath, brushing the snow out of his hair and eyes. With a growl, he grabbed Sora by the neck of his coat and picked him up off the ground, raising him to his eye level (which wasn't that far up off the ground, since Riku was only about an inch taller then his friend).

Sora shut up and blinked at his friend.

"You even THINK about sticking out that lower lip," Riku hissed, "I'll stick two candy canes up each one of your nostrils and tie your hands back with liquorices so you wont be able to get them out."

"I'd still be able to talk though," Sora reminded him, smirking playfully.

"All right then, we'd paste taffy over your mouth. Does that sound good to you?"

Sora considered this for a moment, getting a nice mental picture of himself in his head. It wasn't until both of them had collapsed back onto the ground laughing that they realized they had been picturing the same thing.

"Okay people, here's the deal," Fire shouted, motioning toward the lobby doors. "All of you can go clean up in your rooms if you want before breakfast, or stay out here. Your choice. Breakfast is going to be running a little late due to the…decreasing in waiters," she added looking around at the fallen penguins and brooms that were being dragged inside by several volunteers of the staff.

Several people began to head inside, desperate to get into some dry, warm clothes along with the staff (except for Fire and Wish who were having fun watching Sora and Riku).  
The other quarter of the population of the castle chose to stay outside.

"Well that was fun," Sora sighed laying back in the snow and looking up at the partly cloudy sky. The sun was peaking through here and there at times, checking in on what was happening below. Riku plopped down next to Sora, ripping off his hat and tugging on a few wet strands of his silver hair.

"Great…" Riku mumbled. "I'm going to smell like wet snow all day."

"You and half the castle," Sora reminded him.

The teen held out his hat and wrung it between his hands, watching the water disappear into the snow. He glanced at Sora, looking him over carefully. It was almost as if last night never even happened. As if it was one big nightmare that turned into a dream before he woke up.

He knew it was more then just that red liquid that Mickey had given Kairi that must of healed him. He knew it was Kairi herself that did most of the healing. Something that was triggered by her love for him. Something only she could of done. A gift. A power of some sort.

Or maybe it was just something girls excelled in.

"Hey Riku."

The teen glanced down at his lazy friend. "What?"

"Where's Kairi?" he asked frowning. "She um, wasn't there when I woke up."

A smirk plastered itself on Riku's lips and Sora's eyes narrowed. "Don't even go there Riku, nothing happened," he warned.

"Sure, Sora. Whatever you say," he lied.

The brunet pushed down his rage to strangle his best friend, and concentrated on the question. "Well? Where is she?"

"Christmas shopping," the teen told him, hopping to his feet. "She left early this mor-" he stopped, looking down at the brunet who had suddenly gone rigid. "What's wrong?"

Sora didn't reply. His voice had gotten caught somewhere between his Adams apple and the middle of his chest. His whole body was completely numb yet he could feel cold shivers running up and down his spine as the wind around him picked up and the sun was covered by a layer of dark, gray clouds.

Riku raised an eyebrow. "Sora?"

"Riku," he squeaked. " I-I haven't bought Kairi anything for Christmas yet."

Riku couldn't stop the "What?" from popping out of his mouth in time and it sent Sora scrambling to his feet and through the double doors into the lobby, leaving a very confused Wish and Fire to stare at Riku who was kicking the snow covered ground with his boot in frustration.

"Damn it! I blew it…" Riku growled. He knew it wasn't really his fault, but he felt like he needed to take the blame for once this time.

But how was he supposed to have known Sora hadn't got Kairi a gift yet? He had gone shopping the week before they had came. Why hadn't he of bought one then?

"Hey Riku!"

The teen looked up to find Wish and Fire glaring him down with flames of fury in there eyes and shovels in each hand. "What's going on?"

KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

No one had gone looking for Sora this time and he was thankful for that. He had to be alone for a little while and plan. But the place he had chosen to think and rest his head was a bit out of the ordinary, but it called to him.

He had ran all the way up to the middle of the stairwell where the light from the lobby below still reached; stretching its warmth to its limits to reach the brunet perched on the large part of the railing where the staircase stuck out in a large carpeted square where people could look down at the floor below and stop to catch there breath. Sora's head was resting right where the railing began to incline and swirl down to the tile floor several feet below, so he felt as if he were going downhill. Despite the fact all the blood was rushing to his head he kept still trying to figure out what had happened. He had gone shopping the week before he came to Disney Castle and bought everyone's gifts. But he had wanted Kairi's to be extra special.

Money was scarce for teenagers at that particular time of the year. The local mall had been shut down and was being remodeled so work was just about out of the question. The closing had effected many of the adults to, and since they were older they had had first dibs in the job department.

But Sora had been smart. He had saved up his money and got far with it. But even after searching all the local shops and super stores he couldn't find anything that was suitable for Kairi. She never really liked jewelry, she had clothes, make-up, everything but candy and Sora wasn't about to go out and buy his girlfriend a box of chocolates for such a special holiday. No way. So he had decided, that he would buy her something in Disney village.

But yesterdays tragedy had set him back.

And now he couldn't go out shopping. Kairi was out there and if they met and he seen his present, it would ruin everything. Shopping was best done alone. By tomorrow, everything would be sold out with nothing but wrapping paper as usual at this time before Christmas.

Sora put his hand to his head, rubbing his temples in frustration. " I'm screwed…" he mumbled.

He lay there for awhile, thinking over his possibilities. After what Kairi had done to help him last night, she deserved something extremely special now. But Sora, now with tears of frustration dripping from the corners of his eyes, admitted defeat. He was up the river without a paddle.

Far up.

Sora was so caught up in his growing depression that he didn't notice the small shudder that ran through the railing of the staircase like a nerve twanged on a human spine. He closed his eyes with a sigh, crossing his arms over his chest lightly, ignoring it. But when he felt the wooden rail beneath him give his body a small push forward like a ripple through calm water, he found himself speeding and spinning down the staircase rail at top speed with no way of stopping.

"Hey!"

Sora opened his eyes at the cry coming from below and it was only a matter of seconds before he felt the stair railing suddenly dip down and send Sora sliding spread eagled across the marble floor of the lobby and stop at Wish's and Fire's feet with there faces sliding in and out of focus.

"Sorry about that," Fire laughed clapping her hands and watching as the staircase immediately straightened up and put its railing back into place.

"The staircase is alive, but it doesn't really show much activity," Wish explained. "Unless of course you lay on it like SOME people."

"Well that explains a lot," Sora mumbled, rubbing his head and frowning up at the two maids. They were smirking at him with an air of pride.

Or at least, he thought it was pride.

"Glad you came down though." the red head told him cheerfully. " We were looking for you everywhere."

The brunet blinked, narrowing his eyes in suspicion. "Why?"

" We know of your present dilemma with Kairi," Fire explained, grabbing the brunet's left arm and Wish his right. "And we're happy to tell you we got just the thing for you to give her."

Sora opened his mouth to reply, but both girls hauled him to his feet and dragged him out of the lobby with determination in there eyes. "We'll show you Sora. She wont be disappointed."

"We promise."


	8. All For You

Me: Yay! this is going to be so much fun! And so very, very, long! Time is running short and I have so many things to do but I'm determined to finish this over the next week.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

NOW READ!

Ch: 8 "All for you"

Over the time Sora had known King Mickey, he had been to his castle only several times in his life. Donald and Goofy had given him tours when he had arrived for the first time a few years back and it never failed to amaze him on how gigantic the place was. But as Sora was dragged along an unfamiliar looking hallway lit with star shaped oil lamps and highly detailed silver marble floor, he realized even if he spent a whole year in the King's Castle there would still be places that were still a mystery to him inside its stone walls.  
"Where are you taking me again?" he asked for the tenth time.

"Someplace in the castle," Wish answered with a grin.

"No, really," he hissed, voice dripping with sarcasm. This girl was getting on his nerves. But the thing that really ticked him off was that she very much seemed to know it.

Fire was no better.

Sure, he had stolen her angel. But was it his God damn fault? No.

Suddenly the two maids stopped, looking around the large hall with puzzlement etched in there features.

Sora held his breath. 'Wait for it…'

"I think," Fire mumbled, "we're lost."

"Ha, ten points for me."

"We are not lost," Wish fumed. "We've worked here forever, we can't get lost anymore."

"Not what Yoshi said…"

"That's 'cause Yoshi got lost in the cellar two weeks ago looking for the Christmas tree ornaments," the red head explained smugly.

Suddenly voices drifted to the maid's ears from down the hall and they all turned. At first it seemed like there was no one there. But two small glowing orbs slowly made there way into view and Wish let out a cry of delight. "Lumiere!"

The orbs stopped moving and Sora had to squint to see the enchanted candlestick squinting back at them from the other end of the hall.

"Oh, mademoiselles!" he cried happily. "What brings you to this side of the castle?"

"We're looking for-" Fire began, but Wish put a hand over her mouth glancing at Sora with a look of annoyance. "Come down here Lumiere and we'll tell you."

"Right away!" the candlestick began to hop down the hall but stopped and turned back whispering something to someone they couldn't see. It wasn't until the candlestick had made its way over to Wish, Fire, and Sora that they could see a small tea cup and Cogsworth trailing behind him looking slightly exhausted. The tea cup glanced at Sora from behind the panting clock curiously and Sora gave a little smile.

"What is it you two maids are looking for around here?" Cogsworth asked with a frown.  
Wish knelt down and motioned for the three appliances to come closer. She whispered something that Sora couldn't make out, but from the looks Lumiere was giving him it had a lot to do with him.

The brunet glared up at Fire, hoping to get his message of annoyance across, but the maid just stuck her tongue out at him.

"I didn't mean to steal your angel, now get over it," he growled through clenched teeth.

"Who said that has anything to do with this?" She blinked.

"The fact you keep looking at me like you want to stick a sword through my head."

The brunette blushed and she gave a small smile. "You'll see why in a minute."

Wish had stood up by now and Lumiere was smiling at him with the air of knowing something he didn't. Sora didn't like this much, but as Wish laced her arm with his he realized he should stop complaining. He was going to find out what all this was about anyway.

The candlestick was leading them back down the hall which he had just came. Cogsworth was right beside him with the tea cup trailing behind. He had heard Wish call him Chip which he guessed was from the small chunk of porcelin that was missing from the edge of the cups rim. Neither maid said a word to him as they walked along, but Cogsworth and Lumiere were making a habit out of talking quietly to themselves and glancing back at him.

The teen growled under his breath.

Suddenly the hall panned out into a small circular lobby which served as a cross road for 3 other halls winding into the depths of the castle. The kings crest was imbedded in the tiled floor in a light satin blue color, reflecting in the light from the pan windows above letting in a soft, heavenly light which spilled at Sora's feet. Two large double doors rested in front of him, complete with silver handles and a large heart shaped insignia; half on the left door and the other on the right so when the doors were open they were split. Sora began to wonder of Mickey had some habit of making the doors in his place look fancy. Just to test peoples' curiosity and see if they would open it.

Without a word, Wish wrapped her hand around the handle of the right door and pulled it open with a click. Fire pushed Sora inside with a laugh, sending him skidding several feet into unknown territory. He would yelled at her if it wouldn't of been for the breath taking surroundings which left him gapping and mute.

He had been pushed into a very large ballroom. So large it could of fit all the residence of Traverse Town and then some. A large chandelier hung from the ceiling made of pure crystal which caused rainbows to swirl and jump around the room from the fractions of light from the candles. Tortoise lined the walls, shaped like stars that glowed across the large spread of dance floor, at least a mile and a half long. A gigantic blue and silver heart rested in the middle making Sora's eyes dilate. The silver edge seemed to be made of pure silver while the rest of the dance floor was marble white. A Christmas tree like the one in the lobby, rested against the wall on the opposite side of the room from where Sora stood, glittering and shining in the light in all it's glory. From where the Christmas tree stood, the ball room panned out into two separate smaller circular rooms on either side. The one on the right looked like a party room where guests who weren't dancing sat to chat. There was a fireplace on the far end and built in cushioned seats lining the walls like a border. A large glass table rested in the middle for foods and drinks.

The room on the left served as a separate ballroom with a large golden star imbedded in the floor. There were no seats, but many windows with two glass doors which led out to a wide spread balcony over looking the large planes and gardens of the castle serving as a romantic spot.

What was really ironic about all of this though, was that the whole ballroom, including the separate rooms, formed the King's insignia. The two rooms being the ears, and the main dance floor the head.

"So? What do you think?" Fire asked brightly.

Sora, who was having trouble tearing his eyes away from the sight, glanced over at the maid and smiled. "It's amazing. I didn't even know you had this place."

"Well, that's cause we don't use it often," Wish explained with a hint of sadness. "It's extremely special to the King. He put a lot of work into having it made just right."

"Sure seems like he did." Sora walked into the middle of the room, staring up at the ceiling and twirling around in place a few times.

The maids laughed.

"Ah, the boy likes to dance does he?" Lumiere called from over by the Christmas tree.

Sora blushed despite himself, but put his hands behind his head casually. "I don't dance."

"Sure you do," Cogsworth piped up from next to Wish. "It's instinct. All forms of royalty can dance."

The brunet raised an eyebrow. "But I'm not royalty."

"But you're a Keybearer," Fire reminded him. "That's close enough."

"Yeah but-" suddenly he stopped, dropping his hands to his side and turning to Wish. "What does this have to do with Kairi's present?"

The maid glanced at Fire, who glanced back, and they both smiled at Sora in a somewhat demented fashion.

The boy took a step back.

"This is her present."

Sora's eyes widened. "This whole ballroom?"

" Nnnn…not exactly," Fire explained slowly. "But here's what me and Wish came up with."

The brunet crossed his arms over his chest, listening.

"On Christmas Eve, we're going to have everyone come here for a ball. But we're not going to tell Kairi about it. She mustn't know a thing."

Sora nodded and the maid continued.

"We still have to sort out some of the details, but the main point is, you're going to buy her a dress and she's going t come here and you're going to dance with her. The whole ballroom to yourself, music, drinks, the works. But only for the first song. Then we are going to let everyone else come in."

Sora looked at Fire as if she were crazy. He had never heard of such a gift. "That's not exactly what I had in mind…"

Wrong thing to say.

Both maids grabbed him by the shoulders and stared him down with flames dancing in there eyes. He was growing used to this by now, but the only difference was the fact that their nails were digging into his flesh with the painful resemblance of needles.

" Ladies! Let the poor boy go," Lumiere cried, hopping over to them with urgency. "Clearly he's never heard of such a gift. Let us explain."

Cogsworth, on the other hand, wasn't so forgiving. "Explain?" he shouted, staring at his wax friend with shock. "This boy doesn't have the slightest idea how many strings we are pulling to make this gift possible! Let the girls have him, he deserves it."

Lumiere frowned. "My friend, you have not been out of the castle as much as I have. Teenagers aren't used to giving such gifts for they are never given the opportunity!" He hopped over to Sora, glaring at the maids who let him go with a growl of protest. The brunet let himself fall to the floor where he crossed his legs Indian style in front of the candlestick and let chip hop up onto his knee to listen with him.

" Now, after hearing your tale of woe from this hot tempered madam over here," he began, pointing at Wish who stuck out her tongue in reply, " I must offer my opinion that this is the best gift you could ever give a girl as charming as yours. It would seem more original to give her a diamond necklace or her favorite candies. But since you are short on time and money, sir, consider this gift something of more worth then what you could buy at a store."

"And it's something you're putting your time and effort into preparing," Cogsworth piped in as Sora began to open his mouth to protest.

"And something she will remember and treasure in her memory for a life time," Fire hinted quietly, making Sora's head turn with a snap.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"So you're saying, if I give her this gift, it won't be like a box of chocolates you can eat in one day and then forget about, or a piece of jewelry you'll wear and get tired of over time…" He fingered his crown necklace softly and looked up at the large chandelier looming above him and his friends. "It'll be something she can always go back to in her memory and relive."

"And from what we've been hearing, she needs some new good memories," Fire mumbled.

Wish nodded. "And so do you."

Sora bit his tongue to stop from shouting at his two friends, but realized they were right. He owed it to Kairi and he was pretty sure a gift couldn't get anymore special then this.  
The teen raised his head, scanning the large, classy room once more before letting a smile slip onto his face.

"All right," he answered, picking Chip up by his handle and lowering him to the floor before he stood up. " What do I have to do?"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

For the rest of the afternoon Sora and the others had sat and planned out the details that would ensure the party's secrecy from Kairi and the reaction it would get from her. By the end of the day, Sora was determined to have every little detail be perfect.

"And the dress has to be pretty yet simple," he explained during dinner as he chewed down on a piece of chocolate pie with Wish, Fire, the enchanted appliances and several others which included Riku, Max, and Chip's mom Mrs. Pots who were listening with full interest.

Suddenly the brunet's eyes went wide in panic. "I can't go dress shopping! Crap…"

"Leave that to us." Wish stated proudly.

"Good," He raised his glass to his lips and drank the remainder of milk inside before placing it on Mrs. Pots tray.

"But your still paying for it," Fire added.

Sora gaped. "B-but-"

"We'll take what amount you have," Wish smirked. "The rest you can send to us in check when you go home."

"…You suck. You know that, right?"

"No we don't." Fire winked, hopping out of her chair. "We're just straight forward when it comes to cash."

"Amen to that." Wish quietly got out of her chair and pushed it in, saluting Sora with a smile. "See you tomorrow! One 'o'clock sharp, ballroom. Where something comfortable and easy to move in."

"And some comfortable shoes. You'll be dancing until we think you've got it right."  
Both girls disappeared into the crowd of people and Sora leaned over to Riku. " What did she mean by 'easy to move in'?"

Riku swallowed his last bite of chicken and pushed his empty plate of food away. "Something that won't fall off, like those pants. Something that you wont trip on…like those pants."

Sora glared at him.

"And something you wont look like a slob in…like thos-"

"I GET IT ALREADY!" he shouted, watching his friend laugh. "I'll where my other pants, you critic! Like yours are any better."

Riku got up, sticking out his left leg so his friend could get a good view of his un-ripped, clean blue jeans. "Ah, but they are my dear friend. No one can argue with that."

The brunet opened his mouth to protest, but Riku's eyes suddenly widened and he took off in the other direction shouting a "Heads up!" back at his confused friend.

Suddenly Sora felt arms wrap around him from behind. "SORA!"

He looked up with a small yelp of surprise, only to find a pair of violet eyes staring down at him.

His heart did a summersault "Kairi!"

Wait a minute…

He shot everyone at the table a death glare before hopping out of his seat and kissing her on the lips. "Hi Kairi."

She blushed deeply and wrapped her arms around Sora's middle in a tight hug which made his face turn as red as a tomato. Max and the enchanted appliances snickered at his reaction but averted their gaze as he shot them another look of pure death.

"Do you feel better?" she asked.

"Yeah, can't you tell?" he asked, putting on his trademark grin and making her laugh.

"Yeah, I can tell." She smiled back, eyes shining brightly. "That's good since there's only three more days till Christmas."

'Oh joy..' he thought, stomach dropping to his knees.

"That's…great."

Kairi nodded, taking a step back and picking up a small blue bag from the ground and hiding it behind her back. "Well, I'm going to bed. See you in the morning!" And before Sora could get another word in she had taken off toward the stairwell.

"Ah…" He opened his mouth then shut it, plopping back down in his chair with a sigh. "Girls are confusing."

"And expensive," Max muttered.

" But worth every penny dear." Mrs. Pots assured him who only rolled his eyes in reply.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The next day came quickly and Sora had to have Riku force him out of bed and help find a comfortable and suitable set of clothing.

"Don't you have that red jumper you used to where when you were fourteen?" Riku asked in frustration as he dug through Sora's closet.

He raised an eyebrow. "What do you think Riku? Besides, I grew out of it."

"What about the black one?"

"Left it at home. "

"Well you're not wearing these, that's for sure," he mumbled as he threw a pair of leather black pants at his grinning friend.

"You gave them to me, remember?"

"Yeah, 'cause they were hideous." With sigh, he stuffed all of Sora's close back into his closet and sat down on the edge of his bed frowning. "Well, there's only one more possibility."

The brunet hopped to his feet with a laugh of triumph. "Your closet! Let's go!"

With much irritation, Sora had dragged his friend over to his room on the other side of the hall and waited as he searched through his own belongings to find him something to wear. He had always liked wearing other peoples clothes for some reason, ever since he was a little kid.

"All right, here." A set of clothing came sailing at Sora, landing in his outstretched arms. It consisted of a clean pair of blue jeans, a white T-shirt, and a black hoody with two white wings decaled on the back.

Sora smiled at this.

"All right, now get out if here!" Riku growled, pushing him out the door and across to his own room. "You've got five minutes to get dressed and get down there. That's what Wish said."

"Fine, I'm going."

The teen nodded, trying hard to hide the smirk that was twitching at the corner of his lips. "Good luck twinkle-toes!" And with that said, he leaped out the door before Sora could throw anything harmful at him.

QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ

It had taken him ten minutes to find the stupid ballroom after he had slid down the staircase, ripped Riku's jeans, and found Lumiere to ask for directions. Wish, Fire, and two people Sora didn't know were there when he arrived and they all smiled at him with delight.

Sora blinked, blue eyes watering from his sprint down the vast hall to avoid being late. Wish and the others didn't seem to notice as they surveyed his outfit with wandering eyes.

"Not bad, I like it," Fire commented. "Especially the wings."

"Thanks, now lets get going," he urged, tapping his foot on the ground.

"Fine." Wish walked over to one of the strangers consisting of a very cranky looking duck who was surveying Sora as if he were covered with mud. He wore a black top hat which shadowed over his beady eyes while small spectacles rested crookedly on his bill. A blue vest, held together by shiny black buttons covered his feathered chest, with a golden pocket watch sticking out of the left pocket. "This is your dance teacher."

Sora's mouth dropped open.

"He's Donald's Uncle by the way. Uncle Scrooge," Fire explained, laughing at Sora's expression.

" Oh…" was all he could say in reply.

"This one looks like a hopeless case if you ask me, ladies," the duck snapped, poking Sora with his feathered finger. "Doesn't stand straight, feet too big, and no air of proper grace that I can see from down here."

Sora looked down at his shoes and frowned. "Hey!"

"Stand straight!" the duck barked.

The brunet jumped back with a yelp, but did as told to the best of his ability.

But to Scrooge, it wasn't enough.

"Feet apart, shoulders back, unlock your knees boy you'll pass out that way! Left hand over your heart, fingers curled toward the palm, right hand behind you. There you go!"

Sora did all of this with increasing difficulty, but stood stock still as the duck circled him like a hawk.

The girls giggled from nearby, making him clench his teeth.

"Good enough…" Scrooge muttered, tapping his flipper on the floor in a steady rhythm. "Try to look more relaxed. Never let your girl know your nervous."

"R-right."

The duck waved his hand and Sora let himself fall back into his regular standing position. "So, when do we get to the dancing?"

The duck removed his spectacles from his bill with a swipe of his hand and rubbed them with a small handkerchief from his pocket. "Right now. Let's begin!"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

( Song: "White Christmas" - The Drifters)

The afternoon drove on endlessly, leaving Sora with sore feet and a very large headache. Uncle Scrooge was strict, but Sora had to admit he knew what he was doing. He had taken turns dancing with Wish and Fire who surprisingly were pretty good at waltzing. Scrooge explained that it was up to the man to lead the lady in a proper waltz.

"Never let the lady lead, or they'll walk all over you," he told him as Sora accidentally stepped on Wish's foot as he waltzed with her around the ballroom. She kicked him in the shins in payment, making the poor brunet hiss in pain. Fire shot her a look.

"But what if Kairi doesn't know how to dance?" Sora asked, hopping around on one foot.

"That's why its important that you lead," Scrooge smirked.

"Wonderful.."

Despite the fact it was hard work, it didn't mean Sora wasn't making any progress. He had always been a fast learner, especially when it came to battling.

Sora just viewed learning how to dance as a weird type of new battle move. Minus the Keyblade.

And now here he was, eight 'o'clock at night and walking down the candlelit hallway to the stairwell. Listening to the music drifting from the lobby that was making his head pound even harder.

And then without knowing it, he started to dance.

Arms around an invisible person, muttering the steps under his breath and trotting and spinning down the hall without missing a beat.

Lumiere, who was hidden in the shadows near the end of the hall leading into the lobby, nudged Cogsworth who was beside him as the Keybearer danced past.

"He's getting to be pretty good, no?" Lumiere whispered to his friend.

Cogsworth frowned. "…well I have to admit, he's not to shabby. One more day will probably do it."

"Did you tell the King?" Lumiere asked.

The clock glanced at him. "I might've mentioned it…"

The candlesticks wick lit with a spark of rage. "Go! We only have one more day, no time to lose, you!"

"Fine, I'm going," he growled, waiting until Sora had danced out into the lobby before heading down the hall toward the King's office.

Sora had stopped himself from dancing before he reached the large crowd which was buzzing around the lobby. No one paid much notice to him as they poured over gift lists, ordered drinks, and chatted amongst one another. He took the opportunity to slip up the stairwell, limping on his sore feet all the way.

"One more day..." he mumbled. "Then everything will be perfect…I promise Kairi."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The next day was nothing but dance from six A.M to ten 'o'clock. Scrooge had invited some more people to come and watch, including Riku who would much rather have been asleep at that time of the morning. The others consisted of Max, Queen Minnie, King Mickey, Goofy, Yoshi, Wish, and Fire. The only reason the two maids were there though, wasn't to dance, but to get money out of Sora for Kairi's dress.

"How much do you want?" he asked, never taking his eyes off the two as they circled him smirking. The others watched with amusement.

"Oh," Wish shrugged . "We don't know."

"That's why we think it would be more understandable," Fire crooned, leaning on Sora's shoulder, "if you give us your whole wallet."

The brunet's eyes narrowed. "Hell no."

Bad answer.

"GET HIM, FIRE!"

Before Sora could leap out of the way, a flash of black light illuminated above him from a small, black storm cloud that had shot out of Fire's hand pressing the weight of what felt like one thousand men plus the whole Disney castle itself upon his body until his knees buckled and forced him flat onto the tiled floor leaving the wallet in his back pocket open and easily obtainable to the two maids.

Wish smiled, rubbing her hands together in triumph. "Nice one."

"Didn't even need my staff that time," Fire stated proudly.

Sora let out a growl of frustration as he struggled to release himself from the gravity spell, not liking the position he was in one bit. With a laugh, Wish plucked his wallet from his pocket, waving to the onlookers and running out the ballroom doors with Fire at her heels. "See you later! Don't worry Sora, we'll get Kairi the best dress in town!"

"Regardless of price!"

When the brunet heard the door shut with a loud click, the spell disappeared, releasing him from it's hold. Immediately he sprang to his feet and glared at his friends who were smiling sheepishly.

"Some help you guys are…" he muttered.

The King shrugged. "Well, at least you don't have to worry about going out to find a dress."

"But he still needs a tux and a nice pair of shoes," Scrooge reminded him sternly.

" And a hair cut," Yoshi added.

Sora's hand flew to his head with a snap. "Back off!"

" Joking, chill…"

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

The rest of the day consisted of shoe and tux fitting. And all within the Disney Castle.

"Why do you have all this stuff here?" he asked, looking up and down the aisles of suits, shoes and clothing. Goofy had led him down to the Castles basement.

"The king likes to keep extras of everything just in case of emergency," he explained proudly.

"Well then why couldn't we have gotten a dress for Kairi down here?"

Goofy considered this for a moment. "Gawrsh, probably because all the dresses down here belong to Queen Minnie and Daisy. I'm sure you wouldn't of wanted to give her a hand me down."

Sora smiled slightly. "No, she deserves better then that."

Goofy nodded in agreement, holding up a clean black tux and handing it to him. "Try that on, and then we'll be all set."

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

It had taken two full days of his vacation, blistered feet, and a very, VERY empty wallet, but he had done it. He had learned the basic of waltzing (even though Scrooge said he still had a long way to go), gotten Kairi a dress, barrowed a tux, and everything else for Kairi's present. Tomorrow was Christmas Eve and that was when everything was going to take place. At eight 'o'clock sharp.

And without even removing his clothes or his shoes this time, he crawled into his bed, throwing the covers over his body and drifted off into a series of dreams which included him dancing with Goofy, a very large candy cane, and a very empty wallet.


	9. The Christmas Waltz

Warning: This HAS been spell/grammar checked but not read through due to small amount of time. Spelling mistakes may arise randomly.

When Kairi had seen Sora that night in the lobby, she had been overjoyed with the fact that he had had a fast recovery. However, over the next 2 days it began to dawn on her that even if her boyfriend had not recovered as swiftly as he had, it would not have made a difference.

For she always found herself alone.

Of course, Yuffie was company when she wasn't with Cloud and Leon, but her home friends had developed a habit of disappearing on her for hours on end until nightfall.

"Where have you been all day?" She asked hotly during dinner one day as Sora and Riku sat down with a cup of hot chocolate.

Both shrugged, "Wandering."

'Wandering?"

They nodded. "Yeah, exploring the castle. The works."

Kairi would of believed them if it hadn't been for the fact every time she tried to make eye contact with the blue eyed brunette, he would stare down at his steaming hot chocolate as if reading a hidden message.

Something was up.

The fallowing day before Christmas Eve, she had been determined to catch Sora before he woke up by waiting outside his room trying to look as innocent as possible.

But after an hour of pacing back and fourth in front of the half open door, she threw it open with a growl of frustration only to find the room completely empty.

He had slipped past her once again.

Her irritation grew through out the day as she sent various people she knew to search for Sora, only to have them come back empty handed. Lumiere was one of these people.

"I am sorry mademoiselle, but he is no where to be found."

Kairi sulked.

"I'm sure he's with the King somewhere, for he is nowhere to be found either," he explained trying to get the girl to cheer up.

No give.

In a heavy state of mourning, Kairi turned in to her room early that night; climbing the staircase by herself as the laughter and chatter form downstairs faded behind her. It wasn't until she had arrived in front of Sora's room that curiosity took a hold of her and she carefully creaked open the door to see if her boyfriend had turned in.

And there he lay.

The sight was childish, yet silly to Kairi as she gazed at Sora from the doorway with a smile. He lay curled up, hugging his pillow to his chest with the covers covering his upper body down to his knees. His legs stuck out, hanging off the side of the bed with his jeans and shoes still on making the red head laugh. However, his face looked so peaceful as he slept, she couldn't help but let her anger fade from her heart.

'_I can never hate him…'_ she thought, shutting the door with a soft click. '_There's a good explanation to his actions, I know it."_

And as she crossed the hall to her room and shut the door behind her, she smiled. Excited for the events awaiting her on Christmas Eve.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Oh, Sooorraaaa…"

"Nnnn…."

"Sora, wake up!"

"Go away…"

Riku glanced at Donald, cracking his knuckles with a smirk and hooked both of his thumbs in the corners of Sora's mouth spreading them apart as far as he could so the boys 2 rows of teeth could be clearly seen in a nauseating, crooked smile. "HEY TWINKLETOES!"

Sora's eyes shot open as he felt the pain of having his mouth stretched beyond its usual; limits start to have an uncomfortable effect on him. With a snap he bit down, hoping to catch Riku's hand in the process but the teen was too quick and pulled away with a jerk.

"What do you want Riku?" Sora moaned, throwing his pillow over his head to block out the sight of his friends and the light from the snow falling outside.

"Well first off, I want you to get up because even though you don't know it we let you sleep in till twelve noon." he explained; watching his friend pull the pillow back with a snap as his words sunk in. "Second, I want to know why you were to lazy to take off your shoes before you went to bed and why you slept in my clothes?"

"It's twelve noon?" he shrieked, sitting up in bed and looking out the window. Nothing but snow and clouds met his eyes,

'_Well know wonder I didn't wake up.' _he thought glumly.

"Also," Riku went on, enjoying the impact his news was having on the brunette, "Wish and Fire have Kairi's dress, which I personally think is stunning, Yoshi has your wallet which still had money in it last time I looked."

'Wouldn't be to sure now…" Donald mumbled.

" Also, you have exactly eight hours to set everything up and spend a little time with your girlfriend cause as I've heard from some of the guests, she's been feeling neglected."

Sora's heart sank. He did admit he had been a little busy over the past few days. And Kairi had no idea it was all for her.

"…Is she mad at me?" he asked.

Riku shrugged. "She looked fine down at breakfast earlier. But I'd still talk to her for a bit so she doesn't start feeling bad again."

"What about when I need to go set up?"

"She'll be fine. I got people set up for distractions." Riku answered proudly.

"But you're going to the ball too, right?"

"Hell yes! Don't worry I got everything figured out. Just concentrate on what you need to get done to make Kairi's present perfect."

Sora smiled, feeling an overwhelming amount of gratitude toward his friend. "Thanks."

The teen crossed his arms over his chest. "Don't expect this often, you're still my competition. You and your stupid house key."

After Riku had left, Sora quickly changed into a pair of clean clothes. Jeans and a Red Wings jersey. Something he hadn't been caught wearing in ages.

(A/n: The Red Wings just won there game, this is my honor to them. Lol. Plus the colors are white and red.)

The lobby wasn't as crowded as it usually was at this time of day. Another snowball war was raging outside, led by Leon, Yuffie, and Cloud. Yoshi had joined in on the other team in hopes of knocking Yuffie senseless. But so far, it didn't seem to be going well.

And that's when he noticed Kairi was out there.

She was standing beside Yuffie, snowball in her hand and throwing it a good distance with equally impressive speed, hitting Goofy who had raised his head above the barrier to check to see if the cost was clear. He fell with a loud whoop as Kairi's shot made impact.

Sora had no desire to join regardless of Kairi being out there. A jersey wasn't the best thing to wrestle out in the snow in. But he smiled despite himself as he watched her.

However, it didn't last long.

"Sora!"

He didn't even have time to turn around as Wish grabbed him by the back of his shirt and began dragging him across the lobby floor. "Come on, we got to give you the dress and everything for tonight!"

The brunette didn't even try to break away. He was getting used to Wish's bossy personality. One of her many flaws Fire had pointed out to him over the week.

"Fire said she was taking care of It." he hissed, latching onto a nearby chair to make the red head stop.

She glared at him. "Well she never told me that."

"Well I did, now let me go! Kairi thinks I'm ignoring her because I've been gone all god damn week."

Wish blinked, "Fine." she released the back of his shirt and walked off down the hall whistling under her breath and green skirt whooshing out from behind her.

But Sora wasn't done yet.

"So who are you taking to the ball Wish?" He asked with a tone of pure mocking.

The maid froze making the brunette smirk. "Well?"

She turned slightly on her heels trying to decide whether to face him or to keep walking. With a growl of frustration, she stormed down the hallway until she was nothing but a small black speck at the other end. But Sora waited until she turned around and shouted the name "Yoshi!" back at him, loud and clear before running out of view.

"Ha! I knew it!" he cried, rolling on the floor laughing. Her hatred for the raven-haired teen hadn't fooled him for a moment during his stay at the castle.

And then something cold and wet hit him hard in the face from above.

"AUGH!"

Laughter floated around him as he spat snow from his mouth and sat up with a growl to search for his attacker. But when he found himself staring into a pair of violet eyes, he shut his mouth with a snap.

"Kairi!"

"Surprised?" she asked, standing with her hands placed firmly on her hips and pink earmuffs dangling around her neck. "Or have you forgotten me over the time of your disappearances?"

Sora's face went red. "I can explain-"

"You better, or Yuffie says she's giving me a leash and a collar with your name on it." She snapped coldly.

On Queue, a loud and shrill cry of "DOMINATION!" came echoing from the staircase looming over them and Yuffie's head could be seen peaking over the railing several floors up.

The brunettes face went even redder. "CAN IT YUFFIE!"

But she went on. "Aww, don't lie Sora. I know what your secret desires are and what you think of at nigh-"

"SHUT IT OR I'M RUNNING ALL THE WAY UP THERE AND KICKING YOUR ASS!" he screamed as people began stopping in there tracks nearby to listen.

A hand clasped itself over his mouth and Kairi rested her chin on top of his head, shutting him up. "You tortured him enough for now Yuffie; I'll call you back if I need anymore help."

The ninja saluted with a smirk before disappearing from view in a huff. Clearly, she had to be somewhere and Sora vowed if he found her within the next 3 hours, that he'd show no mercy.

With a small tilt of his head, he stared up at his girlfriend with innocent blue eyes making her drop her hand from his mouth.

"That wasn't funny you know…" he growled.

"You deserved it." she shot back.

"Listen, the reasons I have been gone are not important. I've just…been talking with the king." he lied.

Kairi opened her mouth, and then shut it remembering the King's words from last year. About what he had told them about Sora's future.

"Did…did he tell you anything?" she asked hesitantly.

"Um, yeah some stuff."  
"Anything really important though?"

Sora frowned at her, wondering why there was so much fear in her eyes as she stared at him. Was there something the king new that he wasn't supposed to tell him?

"Listen…all he did was help me out with something I needed help with." he explained to her. "That's it. Why? What are you so worked up about?"

Kairi realized she had already said too much and slapped on a fake smile as quickly as she could. "Oh, nothing. I just told him what I got you for Christmas. I was hoping he didn't spoil it for you."

Sora being the sucker that he was, believed her immediately and stuck out his lower lip in a pout. "I wanna know what I got for Christmas Kairi."

She stuck out her tongue. "You have to wait till Christmas."

"Aww…but don't you love me Kairi?" he drove on, hugging her arm tightly like a 3 year old. "Can I please have it?"

She laughed, leaning over and giving him a quick peck on the cheek. "I said no. In fact, I have to go and wrap presents now so you can't come with me."

Sora's heart truly sank this time. "But I thought you were mad at me for disappearing all the time! Don't you want to hang out?"

She stood up, brushing the melting snow off her jeans left from outside. "We can hang out later. I have to wrap the presents before tomorrow with Yuffie. I'll come down to the lobby when I'm done alright?"

Sora gave a small nod as she tapped him on the head and strolled over to the staircase.

(Play part of "White Christmas" by the drifters right now. I'm sorry I just love that song. XD)

With a sigh, he flopped back down onto the marble floor, watching as the red head descended the steps glancing down at him every so often. Swelling with a happiness he didn't even know he had, he began to sing with his arms spread out above him in a waltzing position.

" Dun dun dun dun dun I'm dreaming of a white Christmas!' he sang. " Just like the ones, I used to know! Dun dun, dun dun dun."

He heard Kairi's laughter and watched as her head swept into view from three stories above. 'What are you doing?"

"Oh, may your days, may your days, may yours days be merry and bright!" he drove on, voice swelling loudly in a comical manner. Kairi laughed harder, knees dropping to the steps below her. "You're such a nut!"

"Aren't I?" he called up, grinning from ear to ear. "Just remember one thing."

She smiled back. "What?"

"It's all Riku's fault!"

The red head rolled her eyes and Sora thought he heard a small " I can imagine." slip from her mouth before she could stop it and continue up the stairs in a huff.

Sora dropped his hands and sighed. "Well Sora, pray everything goes well tonight. Or you're in big, big trouble."

And with a quick hop to his feet, he set of down the hall to find Fire. In hopes of going over the schedule for tonight with her one last time.

'_Everything needs to be perfect." _he told himself.

'_Perfect…for her.'_

_OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO_

It was 6:30 by the time Kairi had come down from her room. The wrapping had taken her no more then an hour but with Yuffie, things had changed. They had gotten into a tape war which traveled out into the hall and into Leon and Riku's room where they put tape on the toilet paper rolls in there bathrooms and in there Kleenex boxes.

After she had pulled all the tape off her clothing and out of her hair, she had ventured down to the lobby hoping to find Sora amongst the crowd of people.

However, after 45 minutes of countless searching, no luck.

It was 7:30 before she had given up on her search and slouched back up the stairwell with a bottle of water clasped in her hand. One she had stolen from the kitchen with Yoshi's permission. Her mind kept pondering over the way everyone had acted around her when she had asked where Sora had gone off too.

They had all…smiled?

Taking a sip from the bottle, she licked her lips and stopped on the carpeted landing as she reached her floor. The hall was unusually quiet at this time of night and she checked the locks on Yuffie and Riku's rooms out of paranoia only to find them locked.

"That's odd…," she mumbled, strolling over to the door of her room and opening it with a click. No one in the hall ever locked there doors. None that she knew of at least.

With a sigh, she clicked on the lights to her room, throwing the empty bottle of water in the trash bin. She began to head toward her closet to find her pajamas when something on her bed made her stop in her tracks.

Draped across her sheets was the most beautifully ravishing dress Kairi had ever laid eyes on. Its sleeves hung below the shoulders trimmed with white lace and small red bows at the end. They were short and made of green silk, which flowed all the way down to the middle bust where a green bow resided… Most of the dress was green except for the top layer, which was black and decorated with a white and green border on the end. The second layer was green while the third was white with a red ribbon bordering the edge of the material. A giant white and red striped ribbon rested on the back completing the dazzling piece of formal wear and taking Kairi's breath away. She had never seen a Christmas dress quit like the one in front of her.

Taking a small step toward her bed, she noticed a small white card lying atop the material of the dress. Reaching out her hand shakily, she plucked it from the bed and held it up so she could read:

_**Dear Kairi,**_

_**This dress is for you. The earrings are taped to the back of this card and the headband, necklace, shoes and other accessories are sitting on your dresser. **_

_**Arrive downstairs at 7:55 sharp. An escort will take you to me.**_

_**Be ready by then. Hope you like the dress!**_

_**Love,**_

_**Sora**_

Quietly she turned the card over to find two small golden belles with a single red ribbon tied to the top of each one. She smiled brightly, realizing these were her earrings and glanced over at the dress with excitement.

What was Sora planning?

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The clock hit 7:54 as Kairi began to make her way down the staircase, holding up her dress so she wouldn't trip. The dress had been a pain to get into and zip all by herself but she had managed along with the make-up and jewelry she had found on her dresser. Special occasions were rare on Destiny Island for a teenager such as herself. Birthday parties were never considered formal and no one had gotten married in her family for several years. However, after everything had been assembled on her body from her dress to her shoes, the person staring back at her in the mirror was someone she had never seen before. A person she had seen only in her dreams.

A woman. A true princess of heart.

The lobby was deserted which struck Kairi as odd. The kitchen door was closed and no lights or candles were lit on the tables except for those on the wall. The doors leading out to the courtyard were also locked, making the atmosphere a bit gloomy. But Kairi herself lit up the room with her own light, which was sparkling radiantly for all around to see.

Which happened to be Lumiere.

The red head didn't see the candlestick at first as she stepped carefully off the final step and onto the marble floor. A small tug on her dress caused her to look down.

"Mademoiselle, you look ravishing tonight." he remarked, flame swelling atop his head in astonishment.

Kairi felt herself blush. "Um, thank you." she glanced around slightly before her eyes fell back on Lumiere. "Are you perhaps my escort I was told about?"

He nodded. "That I am madam. Sora is expecting you!" he hopped ahead of her, glowing in the darkness of the hall entrance which Kairi had never traveled down during her stay. "Fallow me, we must hurry."

She nodded, earrings jingling lightly in the silence. She carefully picked up her skirt once again and fallowed after Lumiere into the darkness of the hall.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

It wasn't the most unpleasant feeling, Kairi had thought. Walking down a hall in high heels and a dress with shadows pressing in on you from every side. It reminded her to much of things she wished to forget. But it was the whispers that made her shudder.

"We are almost there!" Lumiere called back to her, a hint of a smile in his tone of voice. Kairi nodded, squinting to see the end of the passage ahead of her. Sure enough, light could be seen up ahead.

Stepping onto what looked like glass; Kairi gazed up at the ceiling above her to find millions of stars winking down at her through the glass ceiling. Lumiere chuckled at the expression of awe on her face and tugged on the hem of her dress to get her attention.

"We have arrived." he announced, beckoning toward two large doors across from where they stood. Kairi nodded, pulling her gaze away from the sight above her, reminding her so much of home.

Of him.

The candlestick waited until she had made her way over to the entrance before knocking on the left door lightly. He took a step back as both opened immediately as if they had been waiting for there arrival. Kairi bit her lower lip, glancing down at Lumiere nervously. With a small smile, he motioned for her to walk inside.

"It's okay," he whispered. "You look lovely. And wait until you see _him_."

Kairi smiled at this and offered a small "Thank you." before taking a deep breath and walking with her head held high into the room. Excited and scared of what awaited her inside.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The first thing, which struck her, was the size and beauty of the room she had stepped into. It was like a scene out of a storybook; one she would never forget as long as she lived. A ballroom fit for a king. Even a mouse king at that. Lit with millions of candles, a giant crystal chandelier, and a Christmas tree double the size of the one in the lobby. Sparkling with ornaments and lights of all sorts that only royalty and magic could conceive on one tree.

But that wasn't the only thing that caught her eye.

Standing in the middle of the room, dusting off the sleeves of his tux nervously and fretting with his hair was Sora in all his proper glory. Taking notice of Kairi's arrival he turned quickly to face her, pressing his left hand over his chest and placing his right behind him. Kairi clasped a hand over her mouth, clearly speechless at the sight of her boyfriend.

She stood still as stone as he walked up to her. Trading in his slouchy teenage strut for that of a mans willing to impress his lady. He bowed, never taking his blue eyes off hers, which were shining with tears as he took her hand in his and kissed it.

"I've always wanted to do that ever since I watched Titanic over a Riku's." he grinned, making Kairi laugh. Flashing his trademark grin, he straightened up, giving another small bow and squeezing her hand softly.

It was at this point, that he began to have regrets.

"May…um," he stuttered, trying to find the rights words. Something he would say and something not to cliché'. "Would, you like to dance with me Kairi?"

Oh, what a shmuck he was.

She smirked at this, thinking it over while Sora tried to drown himself in her beauty as a distraction. The dress Wish and Fire had picked looked glorious on her. She looked like the true princess she always kept locked deep within her heart. The princess who had saved him not to long ago.

"I don't know," she mumbled, toying with him out of habit. "I've never seen you dance. Can you?"

Sora rolled his eyes before he could stop himself. "After this week you better believe it."

To Kairi, that explained everything.

With a sigh of relief, she silent slid her free hand within his holding it up in a dancing position.

"Show me." She whispered.

The brunette stood in silence as he tried with all his might to swallow the giant lump lodged within his throat the size of an apple. He nodded in reply, tapping his left on the marble floor three times to qeue the music. The two rooms which were connected to the main dance floor were closed off leaving Kairi unaware of there existence. They had sliding walls the King had told him about the other day.

What waited behind them would be revealed in time.

The music drifted slowly and steadily around the ballroom making Kairi jump slightly in surprise. But with a small squeeze of Sora's hand, she chose to leave the source of the music a mystery and let herself be swallowed up by the magic threatening to wisp her away.

And so did Sora.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

( "The Christmas Waltz" by Frank Sinatra )

Sora had started out hesitant at first, constantly glancing down at his feet in fear of tripping on Kairi's dress and sending them both tumbling to the floor in a heap. That would be the end of everything. But he pushed the thought from his mind, letting himself flow with the music and lead his girl into a waltz unlike any other. She let him guide her willingly, sinking into the steady rhythm and becoming one. The ballroom was there personal haven where they were aloud to fly freely without a care in the world. Losing themselves in the music and laughing for no reason at all. Sora had never felt so free, so alive and with happiness. His heart felt complete for once as he seen how much fun Kairi was having. Everything was paying off. The dance lessons, the help of his friends, everything.

Kairi was impressed beyond her imagination with the brunettes dancing skills. Something she had never thought he would hold an interest in.

Tears streamed from her eyes in pure happiness as he spun her around the ballroom making her heart swell. She had never felt a feeling such as this before and oh, how strong it was. It filled her up slowly and steadily as the song drove on in its sweet rhapsody until Sora pulled her into the middle of the room, his azure eyes gazing into hers deeply.

And that's when the doors opened.

Kairi stopped at this nearly sending Sora crashing to the floor. From the depths of the two rooms came hundreds of guests, all partnered up and dressed in there best attire ranging from six layered gowns to simple black summer dresses. The men adorned the same attire as Sora, some of which Kairi recognized as Riku, Yoshi, Cloud, and Leon. All who were dancing with a familiar face.

They waltzed out onto the dance floor; circling Kairi and Sora who had started up there waltz once again. No longer alone, the red head glanced nervously around her at her friends and companions who were all smiling at her knowingly.

They had all known?

Riku winked at her as he passed before being swept away by Fire who clearly knew what she was doing more then him. She smiled at Kairi pointing at her dress and then at herself with a smile. Wish who had just waltzed by with a very flushed looking Yoshi, hip checked her friend as a sign to keep quiet. She managed to flash Kairi a quick smile before hissing at her partner who had stepped on her foot by accident and wisped off in the flow of dancers. Yuffie could be seen with Leon on the other side of the room, slowly coming around as the ninja and the gunner battled over who was leading. Cloud fallowed like a spinning shadow looking spiffy in his tux but with a girl Kairi didn't recognize on his arm. He seemed to be in a sort of daze as he led her in a standard waltz equal to that of Riku's. But despite her dates dancing skills the girl seemed to be having the time of her life.

The others consisted of Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, and several other members of the staff. The King gave Sora a wave of gratitude as he swung by making the brunette swell with pride. The song began to end, and the two teens slowly came to a halt underneath the giant chandelier, eyes sparkling as they smiled at each other.

The others gradually came to a stop, holding there breath in utter silence. Sora and Kairi were totally unaware of what was going on around them, lost in there fantasy as it slowly dissolved around them.

It was at this time, that Sora bundled up every ounce of courage within his body and took a running leap of faith. Pulling Kairi close to him so there faces were just inches apart, he stared into her violet blue eyes and let the words tumble from his mouth before he could have any second regrets.

"Merry Christmas Kairi."

He closed his eyes, blocking out the world and all that came with it as he pressed his lips against hers passionately. He could feel the heat rise in his cheeks, but it was nothing but a small spark compared to what Kairi was feeling at the moment. The blush upon her face was redder then the ribbons on her dress and twice as cute. She kissed back, not hesitating in the least and enjoying the feeling that was sending her heart into over drive.

The crowd burst into applause from all around complete with whoops and hollers from Yuffie and Riku. Wish and Fire met in a hug in front of the Christmas tree, happy that there plan had worked out perfectly.

The couple silently pulled away grinning at the crowd sheepishly. Sora looking like a deer caught in the headlights while Kairi simply laughed and latched herself onto Sora in a tight hug. He was slightly taken back at thi, but glanced over at the King who was watching him with satisfaction. It was then that he gave the keybearer a small bow. Something that only Sora caught and would remember for the rest of his life.

He nodded in reply, flashing his trademark grin and wrapping his arms around Kairi tightly.

Despite the fact the first dance was over, he still had a long night ahead of him.

One he didn't plan to waste.

"Alright people!" Fire shouted over by the tree where she and Wish stood wiping tears from there eyes. "Drinks and Food in the room to your right and the separate dance floor is to your left. I suggest you mainly try to stay on the main floor. The balconies a little slippery but we're leaving it open anyway since its such a nice night. Now everyone enjoy yourselves, the bands starting up in a moment."

It was 20 minutes before everyone had divided amongst the ballroom in a mob of constant chatter and dance. The party room was packed with people desperate to rest there feet and have a bite to eat from the many assortments of snacks. A fire was burning merrily against the wall giving off a cheery feel not even the lobby could master. Several sets of hard-core dancers swept across the main floor along with Donald's nephews who were creating a scene. Riku had taken the time to gather up a small group of friend and corner Sora and Kairi near the Christmas tree.

"That was better then reality T.V" Riku smirked, ruffling Sora's hair with a laugh.

"Can it Riku." He growled shoving the teen lightly. Sora glanced at Yoshi who was smirking at him with his usual look.

"What's with you?" he asked.

He shrugged. "Never thought I'd see someone who would have the guts to do something like that. The King was right about you."

Enjoying the compliment, Sora put on a smile. But that wasn't about to stop him from pressing the matter of his date. "So, what's with you and Wish?"

His face twitched and he glanced at the maid ever so slightly who was standing over by Kairi chatting away.

"Well," he began. "I figured since you had enough guts to give a girl a ballroom waltz as a Christmas gift, that it would take twice as much gut to ask Wish out and BELIEVE ME that took a lot of guts."

'And a lot of sore toes." Sora added.

"And a headache." Riku reminded him.

"Yeah…" Yoshi mumbled. "It was worth it though."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The night drove on endlessly and before anyone could take notice, wine was being passed amongst the crowd and the dance floor was packed with people no longer caring if they could waltz or not. Nothing extremely out of the ordinary, just a regular party that everyone seemed to be enjoying. Riku was having fun in the snack room with Yoshi, Cloud, and Leon; telling stories and jokes while Fire and the girls danced freely in the ballroom having the time of there lives.

The separate dance floor though, was deserted. Except for two people taking full advantage of the decrease of company. Sora led a giggling Kairi out onto the balcony over looking the landscape of the castle with the stars shining above them in greeting. The air was frigid, but not frigid enough to send the two teens cowering back into the warmth of the ballroom. This was there time to be alone and they were going to use it at all costs.

They stood in silence, gazing up at the stars and letting the music drifting in from the dance floor caress them. The stars brought a feeling of security and endlessness to Kairi.

But for Sora, it made him think.

"Kairi," he began quietly, gazing up at the millions of tiny specks he knew were worlds and feeling slightly uneasy. "What's going to happen to us?"

Her head turned with a snap, taken back by the question. "Nobody knows," she told him slowly. "Only we can decide what's going to happen to us."

Sora thought about this for a moment, feeling sour that he had even brought the question up. Whenever he had wandered off by himself early in the year at Destiny Islands, he had always sat gazing up at the stars and did nothing but think and wonder for hours on end. With no one to answer his questions but himself.

But this time he wasn't alone.

"…But what about fate?" he asked, mouth twitching. Kairi bit her lip at this, knowing there was no way she could answer without breaking her promise to Mickey. She didn't want to tell him, not at this time, not ever. She would wait forever if she had to if it meant keeping Sora happy.

"Fate isn't always unchangeable." she told him hesitantly. He frowned at her, fear flashing within the depths of his blue eyes. With a sigh, Kairi wrapped her arms around the brunette, hugging him close. She didn't want to see him afraid. It wasn't like him.

"Your fate and my fate are linked Sora." she whispered softly. "Wherever you go, I'll go. Whatever happens to you, to us, we'll pull through it." She placed her hand on his chest, feeling the steady pulse of his heart vibrating against her skin faintly. "We're connected and nothing can ever change that."

They were silent for a moment, listening to the chatter within the ballroom suddenly come to a halt as Fire announced that one last song was to be played before everyone had to go back to there rooms for the night. Sora shut his eyes, resting his chin on top of Kairi's head as he wrapped his arms around her, gently rocking back and fourth.

"I know Kairi," he whispered. "I know."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Me: Oh, the fluff! I'm drowning in cotton candy over here1 such sweet fluff and this coming from a girl who also loves yaoi! Am I multi talented or what?

Don't answer that.

One more chapter, which is the closing.

Oh, and you see that little button down there? Push it and send in your reviews! You'll get a cookie!

NEXT CHAPTER COMING!


	10. Goodbye but not for long

Me: Last Chapter!

Ch: 10 " Goodbye but not for long"

While millions of families all throughout Disney Town were awakened by there kids at the break of dawn eager to open the presents left to them by Santa, Disney Castle slept.

Except for a few eager and energetic guests.

Huey, Dewy, and Louie were up and ready as soon as the clock struck 6 A.M. unfortunately for the guests still asleep (Which included everyone) the three ducks rooms were at the top of the castle and the only way down to the Christmas tree in the lobby was by going down the stairwell…

…connected to every floor.

With a loud whoop and a holler, the three took off down the stairs; there voices echoing down every hall on the trip down and causing Yuffie and a very washed out Riku to fall out of the safety of there beds and across the cold floor. Both let out a cry of annoyance waking Kairi up from her slumber. She brushed the hair out of her blue eyes and sat up, feeling the ache in her legs from the night before. Clearly, she was getting out of shape if dancing was leaving her with sore limbs.

But they were going home tomorrow. It didn't matter.

'_That's right…we leave for home tomorrow.'_ she remembered, reaching under her bed and pulling out the presents she had wrapped for her friends.

"Might as well give them to them early." she mumbled.

Without even changing out of her pajamas, she threw her gifts in a spare bag and dragged it out into the hall and across to Riku's room. The teen was sitting on the edge of his bed looking like he had been hit in the head with a hammer. She suppressed a small giggle, before pulling a small silver wrapped gift out of her bag and throwing it at his head. Despite his drugged appearance, his reflexes were the same as ever as he caught the gift with one hand.

"Why are you up so early?" he asked, laying back on his bed and hanging his head over the edge so he could watch Kairi in the doorway and look over his gift, shaking it.

The red head rolled her eyes. "I heard you yell."

"Sorry, but I didn't expect to here any signs of human life this early in the morning after last night." he grumbled, reminding Kairi of an old man who hadn't had his coffee yet.

Tired of standing in the doorway, Kairi shoved Riku's feet off the bed and sat down on the edge Indian style. She watched the door for any more signs of life willing to arise out in the hall. Sure enough, Yuffie came slouching in with all her morning glory with her messed up hair and sleep-filled eyes.

"Morning…" she mumbled, glancing at the two before plopping on the bed over Riku's legs without a care in the world. The teen hissed in discomfort but didn't try to push her off. He was still having trouble waking up.

"Merry Christmas!" Kairi exclaimed handing Yuffie her present.

She blinked. "Is it caffeine?"

"No, it's a present."

She shrugged, taking it and shaking it as Riku had. "Thanks… I'll bring mine out later."

Grumbling could be heard from down the hall, growing louder by the minute. Tilting there heads to the side to get a good glimpse of who was out there, the three watched as Leon and Cloud came trudging by, only stopping when they noticed the three younger teens staring at them.

Leon raised an eyebrow. "What is this? MTV?"

Yuffie shrugged. "If it is, I'm liking the show so far. Get your butts in here."

Leon looked at Cloud who simply shrugged before heading in and sitting on the edge of the bed.

Kairi was starting to feel a bit cramped.

"Here are your present's guys," she announced, handing them both red boxes, which they took with a nod. She peaked out from behind Cloud to see if anyone else was coming through the door from the nearby rooms. However, it was several more minutes of silent agony before Wish and Fire appeared at the door dressed in red and green nightgowns and looking more awake then the rest of the group.

"Merry Christmas." Wish shouted, making them all jump. Fire opened her mouth to greet them as Wish had, but she stopped herself as she scanned the content of the room with a smirk spreading across her lips.

"Kairi and Yuffie get off the bed and come over here.' She ordered.

Everyone looked at the two and with a sigh of frustration, they did as told for no reason at all. When they were standing next to the maid who looked satisfied she rubbed her hands together and whispered into Yuffie's ear, loud enough for Kairi to hear.

"Now if we could just have or little yuke Sora, it would be one giant yaoi fest." she smirked, rubbing her hands together and staring at the boys. Yuffie smirked in reply, licking her lips evilly. "I like your thinking. What about you Kairi?"

But the teen had covered her ears. "Not listening!" she shouted, disgusted with her friends thoughts. Wish's head snapped to the side and she looked at Kairi questionably. "What's wrong?"

"There talking about things!" she pointed at the guys. "About THEM doing bad things together."

Riku's mouth dropped open and Leon and Cloud just sat there, now clearly awake and there eyes set in flames. Yuffie and Fire took a small step back.

"About us doing what things?" Riku asked, sitting up and staring at the two as if they had told him to go jump out the window.

"Yaoi things young Riku!" Yuffie shouted, putting her arm around Fire who waved at the teen innocently.

Riku's face turned several shades of red. "Shut it Yuffie!"

"Fire said it not me!"

He turned to Fire, eyes wide. "Is this how you repay me after I took you to the dance?"

But Wish took the moment to step in. "Let her go Riku, she's always like this in the morning when rudely awakened."

"By Donald's nephews?" Kairi asked.

They nodded.

But Fire wasn't done. "Yuffie, lets me and you go and get Sora and bring him over here! Then it will be a-"

"SHUT UP FIRE!" All three men chorused, leaping from there spot on the bed and chasing her and Yuffie down the hall in a stampede of rage. Wish ran after them with a growl leaving Kairi all alone in the room and very disturbed.

"Fan girls…" she mumbled, picking up her bag and strolling out into the hall. Heads began to peak out of there rooms to see what all the commotion had been about, giving Kairi a signal that she better get moving.

But instead of heading back to her room, she made her way over to Sora's.

She knew he wouldn't be awake. Sora could sleep through a tornado, have the roof of his house blown off, and his covers ripped from his bed and still be off in dreamland. But as she walked in and creped over to the side of his bed, she could clearly see that the dreamland Sora was visiting was one entirely different then hers.

From beneath the tangle of covers, the brunette's face was visible. Locks of hair were stuck to his sweat covered face and his breath came out in short shallow gasps. But what caught Kairi's eye was the tears dripping down his cheeks slowly and steadily from his closed eyes.

"…Sora?" She whispered, getting down on her knees and watching him worriedly. The teen's eyes squeezed tightly as if he were in pain causing a river of fresh tears to trickle down his face. His hand clenched and unclenched as his body seized up and curled into a tight ball beneath the covers.

Kairi grabbed his hand squeezing it reassuringly. It twisting frantically in her grasped but she held on tight. Wishing with all her might that he could calm down, wake up, anything.

"Come on Sora…" she mumbled, blinking tears out of her eyes. " You're in a world where I can't reach. You have to fight it. I'm here, its okay."

As soon as her words left her mouth, the brunette's body began to relax. The pained look faded from his features and the tight hold on her hand that was turning her fingers blue was loosened. The pain faded entirely, but the sadness hung over him in an impenetrable haze.

Kairi sighed, letting her hand slip from Sora's and down to her bag of presents. Carefully she pulled out a small gold wrapped package and tucked it in the crook of Sora's arm.

"Merry Christmas…" she whispered, before getting to her feet and walking out. Hoping that Fire and Yuffie might still be alive after the men's assault.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

By 7:30 A.M, the whole castle was awake. The lobby was packed with people in nothing but there pajamas with coffee and hot chocolate being passed around and accepted with gratitude. Riku, now high off chocolate overloaded with Oreo's and marshmallows, had opened his gift from Kairi and was thrilled to find a watch decorated with black and white feathers on the band. The design inside the frame of the watch was a Ying yang symbol in the shape of a heart with two swords crossed behind it. A White and a black wing rested on each side of the sign giving off a gothic yet light feeling.

Riku's eyes sparkled as he threw his arms around Kairi in a tight hug. "Thank you! You paid attention to what I wanted unlike SOME people!"

Kairi blinked. "Who?"

"I opened up Wakka's gift along with Tidus and Selphie's a few moments ago." he explained. "Tidus thought it was funny to go out and buy me a Hershey's candy bar hoping I would win the 10,000 dollar prize inside."

Kairi smirked. "Well did you?"

" Hell no!" he roared, taking the candy bar out of his pocket and taking a large bite out of the top.

The rest of the morning was nothing but gift exchanging. Fire had come out of her hiding place in the kitchen and started throwing presents at everyone she could find. Kairi received more then she had planned. Ranging from simple candy canes to clothing and jewelry. Riku had gotten her a case for her Ipod that she could clip to her belt. Leon, Cloud, and Yuffie had all chipped in to buy her a winter hat with cat ears sticking up from both ends.

"Oh, Sora's going to love those ears!" Fire laughed as she watched the cat girl tear into her gift and pull out a small necklace with a white winged heart on the pendant. She smiled at it looking over at Fire. "Thanks."

She laughed. "I knew you'd like it."

"Hey, what did you get Sora Kairi?" Wish asked, throwing a small green wrapped package at Kairi.

She caught it and smiled teasingly. "You'll find out."

Both maids glanced at each other before going about there business. It wasn't until 10 minutes of gift opening and passing had gone by, that a loud holler of joy came echoing from several floors above. Kairi's head snapped toward the stairwell just in time to see Sora come sliding down the railing in his pajamas and a small Ipod clasped in his hand.

He landed on the tiled floor with surprising grace for someone who had just woke up. His eyes immediately fell on Kairi, sparkling and full of excitement. He zigzagged through the crowd of people and mounds of wrapping paper with increasing speed. The red head only managed to take a small step back before the brunette tackled her to floor in a very tight hug. Onlookers laughed loudly, remembering the couple from the night before. Kairi couldn't help But laugh herself as the brunette pulled away; hugging the Ipod to his chest like a kid would his teddy bear.

"Kairi thank you!" he cried, bouncing on the soles of his feet. "It's the exact one I wanted! With the crown design, the engraving, and my whole play list is on here already! Thank you, THANK YOU!"

Riku looked on from nearby with his mouth hanging open in a gaping stare. Sora stuck his tongue out at him with glee, looking the small Ipod over in his hand. Indeed, it was a remarkable sight. A small, thin, white, model with a silver crown engraved just below the spin wheel. On the back Sora's name along with the title, "The Keybearer" was engraved. A small heart with wings was etched beneath making the Ipod truly unique.

It had cost Kairi nearly 85 of her savings.

But after what Sora had given her, it was worth every penny.

The rest of the day went on in a chain of laughter and merriment. No one had bothered to change out of there pajamas and stayed in the lobby for the rest of the day. Several brave souls had ran up to there room and grabbed there mittens and jackets to converse in another snowball war. But Kairi and the others were enjoying themselves indoors; playing Monopoly 3 times in a row ( Yoshi's gift from Wish) and taking turns listening to Sora's Ipod ( after spending 20 minutes of trying to pry it out of his hands.)

By nightfall, food was being passed around and everyone had gathered around Yuffie's table to play Video Game Trivia. After an hour and a half, Riku and Yuffie were the only ones left, staring each other down with equal persistence. Riku ended up winning in the end after Yuffie had drawn a question on Halo 2. One of her least favorite games leaving Riku with open victory.

It was eleven o'clock when everyone started heading up to bed. Sora was determined to stay up until twelve, not wanting the day to end. But sleep had a habit of dragging him away at the most unwanted times.

In the end, he trudged up to bed. Taking one last look at the lobby sparkling in the light of the Christmas tree with the floor covered with wrapping paper and tables littered with half finished drinks and candy wrappers.

"…All good things," he whispered. "Must come to an end."

"But that doesn't mean you have to forget them."

Sora let out a yelp as he noticed a pair of round black ears walk into view from behind him. The King frowned at his reaction, crossing his arms over his chest. The brunette put his hand behind his head with a nervous laugh. "Sorry."

Mickey nodded, turning to look down at the mess of a lobby with a sigh. "What a mess…"

Sora shrugged. "It's Christmas. What did you expect?"

"No more or less." he answered with a smile. Sora flashed a grin, which quickly faded.

He really didn't want to leave…

"Well, better get up to bed Sora. You got a long trip ahead of you tomorrow." Mickey reminded him.

Sora let his bangs shadow his eyes with a sigh. "Yeah…I know."

The mouse watched him for a moment, sensing the distress in the brunette's tone of voice. The teen shuffled his feet half-heartedly, avoiding the King's gaze.

Mickey let out a small laugh. "You don't want to leave, do you?"

Sora shook his head.

"I can understand that." he answered slowly. "I don't want you all to leave either. This place actually felt more alive then it had for some time over the last week."

Sora watched the King curiously, hinting the depressed look in his eyes.

He had to admit, in a Castle this big it was easy to get lonely.

"Listen," Sora began hesitantly. "Can I talk to you tomorrow? Before I leave?"

Mickey looked taken back at this but gave a small nod of approval nonetheless. "Sure Sora."

"Okay," he took one last glance down at the lobby before running up the stairs. "Good night!"

Mickey waved. "Goodnight."

And as Sora disappeared into the darkness above, the King turned back to the lobby, taking in the Christmas feeling that was hovering like a ghost over the large room.

"So ends another Christmas." he whispered. "The best one yet."

And with a wave of his hands, the lights on the Christmas tree gave a small flicker before fading out and casting the room in darkness.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Come on Sora, the ships waiting!" Kairi called up the stairwell clearly annoyed. She zipped up her black and pink jacket with shaking fingers, dropping her suitcase to her side so she would have an extra hand.

Sora's head peaked out from over the railing looking rather nervous. Kairi looked up from her jacket to give him a look that would make him walk faster. But Sora's feet seemed to be glued to the stairs with gum as he trudged down with his suitcase in hand and jacket on.

Kairi opened her mouth to complain, but stopped herself as she noticed the teen water filled eyes, which were avoiding her gaze at all costs.

"The others are waiting with Riku Sora." she told him softly. "To say goodbye."

He gave a small shrug. "Okay."

He walked quickly past Kairi with his head lowered giving her no choice but to grab her bag and scramble after him. She glanced back at the lobby sadly, feeling a piece of her heart tear off as the Christmas tree faded from view. Many memories took place there and would stay in her heart for an eternity.

The walk to the front of the castle was shorter then she had expected. People came looming in to view waving at them with a smile. Riku could be seen standing near the door with Wish, Fire, and Yoshi at his side; faces covered with tears.

Kairi bit her bottom lip. Now she really didn't feel like leaving.

Sora walked right over to Riku, dropping his bag beside him and turning to face Wish and the others.

He gave a small smile. "Hey…"

"Hey…" Fire smiled back, tears brimming on the edge of her eyes. Sora looked away for a moment, not wanting to cry. He'd do anything not to cry. But he couldn't stop himself as he flung his arms around Fire and Wish in a tight embrace. Knowing he would miss them the most.

"Thank you for everything." he told them, tears spilling down his cheeks. "For helping me with Kairi's gift, for helping me dance, the dress, everything. You guys rock."

Both girls nodded, small sobs escaping there throats. "I-it was nothing. We enjoyed it."

Sora looked at Yoshi, who was standing still as stone with a forced blank expression upon his face. The brunette wiped the tears from his eyes before holding out his hand to the teen who shook it with gratitude.

"You're a cool kid." Yoshi told him, making Sora's eyes glint with anger. "I mean teen. You really helped make this place rock this year. It was really fun. Especially the snowball war."

Sora liked this, flashing a quick smile before glancing over at Yuffie, Leon, and Cloud. He didn't feel too sad that the three were leaving. They always showed up at there island unexpected for a stay.

"See you this summer Sora!" Yuffie chirped, waving her mittens in the air happily. Leon and Cloud simply waved, looking rather tired and happy to be leaving.

"See ya this summer kid." Leon smirked making Sora's smile widen. "Don't get yourself into anymore trouble."

"But if you do, we'll be there in 3 seconds flat!" the ninja exclaimed with a wink. "Cid's working on a new Gummiship. It might just be possible."

Cloud rolled his eyes; something Sora had never seen him do. "He wish's it were."

The front doors suddenly flew open and Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy could be seen standing in the middle of the path leading up to the Gummiship. Sora glanced back at the others.

"What are you guys doing Yuffie?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Cid's coming to pick us up and knowing him, it'll be awhile."

The brunette laughed. "Okay, see you guys!" he waved at Wish and Fire who waved back with tears still flowing down there face. Sora tore his eyes away, running to catch up with Kairi and Riku who were already hugging Donald and the others down the path. They had said there goodbyes to the others while Sora had been upstairs packing.

He had only made it ten steps out the door when Goofy and Donald had flung themselves on top of him in a tight hug.

"Whoa! Where did you guys come from?" he managed to ask between fits of laughter as the two tickled him nonstop.

"We ran!" Goofy shouted in reply.

"But I just saw you guys up there with the King."

"We ran real fast." Donald smirked, tapping his magic staff on the ground answering Sora's question completely.

They walked back down to where Kairi and Riku stood near the King and Queen. Riku was biting his lower lip so hard blood could be seen trickling down his chin. He wiped it away with his hand quickly and turned toward the Gummiship with his bag swung over his shoulder. "See you guys." he mumbled before walking as fast as his feet would carry him.

Sora frowned. "What's his problem?"

"He doesn't want to cry but I bet he's doing so right now." Kairi mumbled. Riku had always had a close connection with the King.

The King cleared his throat, causing both teens to stand at attention.

Mickey laughed. "Well, I just wanted to say that I hope you two had a good time this past week."

Kairi nodded, her eyes sparkling slightly. "We did. Very much."

Sora nodded too, casting his gaze to the ground once again.

The queen spoke up this time. "You're always welcome to come back here if you need anything."

"We plan too. Right Sora?" She nudged him in the ribs lightly making the teen jump to attention. "Yeah, sure."

The red head glared at him preparing to say something harsh. But Mickey stopped her.

"Kairi, why don't you go on in the ship." He suggested eyeing her boyfriend. "I need to talk with Sora privately."

She seemed taken back at this, but agreed with a simple smile of understanding. With one last wave at Donald and Goofy, she ran up the ramp into the ship with her luggage bouncing around in her hand.

Donald and Goofy gave Sora one last hug before running back into the Castle along with Minnie who simply bowed in farewell. It was now that Sora and the King were completely alone.

The brunette's eyes averted back to the ground, but Mickey caught him.

"Look up Sora!" he snapped.

The teens eyes widened, surprised at Mickey's reaction. Regardless, he did as told.

The King glared at him. "Now I know you're sad about leaving," he began. "But that doesn't mean you have to go back to the way you used to be. Your friends will always be with you no matter where you are for your hearts are always connected."

'B-but…" Sora stuttered, trying to find the right words to explain. "What if I forget about them? What if they forget about me?" he stamped his foot in frustration. " What if everything goes back to how it was before?"

Without warning, a shimmering light erupted from below stinging the brunette's eyes and forcing him to take a step back. It wasn't until his eyes had adjusted that he noticed the end of Mickey's Keyblade pushing against his chest and the look of determination set in the mouse's features as he stared him down.

Sora gulped.

"It won't go back to the way it was before because nothing is ever the same. Nothing is ever repeated entirely the way it has happened in the past. As long as you trust _this_' he pushed the edge of the Keyblade harder against Sora's skin. "Nothing will ever be as you feared."

The brunette gaped, opening his mouth and shutting it as he tried to find the right reply to the King's words.

The point was, he was right.

He had to stop sulking and move on. Fallow his heart and hope for the best.

"You're…right." he mumbled raising his head and staring the King in the eyes. "My friends can help me too…like they have my whole life. Can't they?"

Mickey smirked. "Well what do you think?"

"I think they can, just like everyone did this whole week." he explained, voice rising with determination as he drove on. "Even after what happened to me and what I had done concerning the tree, everyone still stuck by me. Which I think was really cool." he smiled.

Mickey lowered his Keyblade and smiled back. "Keep thinking like that and you'll be happy. I promise."

A loud honking sound blasted from behind Sora as the driver of the Gummiship gave the King a pleading look. He nodded in reply turning back to Sora and holding out his hand.

"Good luck back at Home." he said as the brunette grabbed his hand and shook it.

"Same to you. Hope everything goes well for you Mickey." Sora grabbed his bag, running up the ramp of the Gummiship.

The King thought the boys words over, knowing the next year was going to be a hassle regardless of what anyone said. But he couldn't help but feel his heart lift slightly as he watched Sora throw his bag into the ship.

"Hey Sora!" he called out.

The brunette turned with a start. "Huh?"

"If you start feeling down, trust yourself with Kairi. Those closest to you can help you during your times of need."

Sora smiled brightly. "She helps me as I help her. I get it."

The King nodded. "Well, off with you! Have a good year!"

"You too!" the brunette ducked his head through the door and disappeared inside. The ramp of the Gummiship folded up and shut with a click as its engine revved up.

Within seconds, the ship had taken flight, zooming up into the sky until Disney Castle was just a little speck of a star in the giant mass of space.

Sora had taken his seat next to Kairi, who was sleeping quietly with her headphones in and her backpack hugged close to her chest. With a smile, the brunette took out his Ipod, glancing back at Riku who was indulged in his Nintendo DS. With a small sigh, he rested his head on Kairi's shoulder and smiled to himself.

'_As long as I have my friends, everything will be fine.'_

And with this thought in mind, he shut his eyes and turned his Ipod on with a click.

'_My heart, my friends, my life…will be fine.'_

_** The End**_

Me: I'M DONE! YES! FINALLY! FINALLY!

Many thanks to: Wish for beta reading several chapters

Everyone who reviewed, THANK YOU!

Now for **_notes:_**

**_Origin of this Story_**: _Since I started writing it a years ago it's hard to remember but I was getting a little worn out after writing all the angst in Passing Shadows and it began grow on me after awhile. I'm a very cheery person at heart, so I was in desperate need to write something cheerful for the holidays but still have that story connect with my Passing Shadows._

_So what was better then writing a holiday story?_

_My goal was to make it available to other people to read who have not read Passing Shadows. So it started out slightly fresh. That ended up proving slightly difficult cause I wanted to portray how much Sora had changed over the year along with Riku and Kairi since where I left off in Gifts of Darkness._

_My writing style has changed over time and my current chapters compared to my first are way better. My first chapters disgust me on how poor the writing was. But I guess you all enjoyed it anyhow since you kept reading._

_I felt bad for not updating over the year and I paid for my draw back on Christmas when I got the 24 hour flu last year. It wasn't fun. But I was fine this Christmas and finally brought it to a finish even though it's after the holidays._

_The thing I liked about writing this story was the atmosphere I portrayed in Disney Castle. The lobby was my favorite place as you could tell with the giant staircase. I plan to have some sketches of it up on my deviant art site in the future along with the ballroom layout._

_Plus I love snow ball fights. Couldn't you tell?_

_Fire and Wish are based off of me and WishingForMyWings. The personalities are a little different then our own but I had fun creating them and having them interact with Sora and the others. Yoshi was based off of one of my online friends but I ended up changing him into a smart ass in the story. Regardless to say, not that different from my friend at times._

_I kept some characters quiet like Donald and Goofy throughout the fic because the plot was mainly focused around Sora's time at the Castle and his experiences and then with Kairi and how she was dealing with Sora. The whole angst scene was to finally bring out the truth in how much Kairi cared for Sora and how much of an effect it was having on her life and personality. Something I was eager to write. I was going to end it after that, but over the course of last year I got hit with inspiration for a ballroom scene. Something I haven't seen anyone else write in a story before._

_If you are reading Passing Shadows, some of this may be a little ironic because what the characters are wondering and what there hoping for have already been revealed to you if it was worth it or not._

_Sora's personality is completely mine and mine alone. His 14 year old personality belongs to Tetsua Namura. His 17 year old one is mine._

_Stubborn, hot-headed, mischievous, insane, everything you would find in a normal teenage boy. This is my Sora. But with his dark past still hanging over his head, some of these traits are stronger then someone with a normal life. But he still has a heart of gold when it comes to his friends._

_**For Passing Shadows readers:**_

_I'll started working on Passing Shadows soon. Exams are slowly arriving at school and it might put me on hold again but we don't have that much farther to go in the story. 5 or 6 more chapters._

_I would appreciate a bit of feedback in future reviews to help me improve in my writing. My goal is to put just a tad more detail but not a lot so the reader doesn't get blown off subject. More description of surroundings, and IMPROVED GRAMMAR._

_So, if you notice something wrong in one of my stories, mention it. But don't bite my head off with insults. It's just to help me improve. Something all writers want to do._

_Well, enough ranting. I'm happy you all enjoyed this story! Please send your reviews and have a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!_


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